


Rose-Tinted Glasses

by lavieEnRose (FriendlyNeighbourhoodLesbian)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged Up, F/M, Identity Reveal, Miraculous Holders, final battle?, later angst, lil bit of marichat too, mostly adrienette, prom/ball shenanigans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-09-29 11:22:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 35,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17202545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FriendlyNeighbourhoodLesbian/pseuds/lavieEnRose
Summary: Ladybug rejects Chat Noir a final time, fearing the repercussions of a relationship between superheroes. After five years of infatuation with his partner in crime, Adrien turns to Marinette in order to move on.





	1. 1

‘Adrien, come help us with something!’

Stiff and sore all over, Adrien managed to crane his aching neck in Alya’s direction. She was sat on the floor with Nino, surrounded by coloured pens and pencils, nodding her head in the direction of a large stack of coloured paper. Adrien forced himself to smile at her and eased out of his chair with similar difficulty as an eighty-year-old man. Once he reached her, he inhaled, slumped down beside her, and groaned loudly.

She raised an eyebrow at him. ‘Are you okay?’

He made an incoherent mumble that wasn’t quite an answer. Nino scooted across the carpet to sit behind him and began to give him a back massage, working out the knots in his shoulder blades as Adrien hummed gratefully.

‘I love you, Nino.’ He moaned, and Nino replied with a laugh.

‘What kind of freaky stuff have you been up to? You’ve got bruises everywhere, dude.’

Adrien didn’t allow himself a moment to be embarrassed by that insinuation. ‘We just got a little overexcited at my last fencing session,’ he said smoothly, just as he’d rehearsed in his head on the way to school that morning, ‘I got a bit roughed up is all.’

‘You sure you’re not finally getting laid?’ Alya smirked.

Adrien reminisced the previous night: fighting a mallet-weilding akuma that knocked him and Ladybug into walls until they were battered and exhausted. Shuddering, he concluded that kinky sex would have been a much easier night.

‘I wish.’ He sighed, and curled into Nino’s lap to enjoy his well-earned massage. ‘What did you guys need help with?’

‘A little advertisement!’ Alya held up a sheet of coloured paper, inked with rough sketches of prices, titles and stick figures in poses that he couldn’t quite comprehend. When his classmate noticed him squinting at the awful drawings, she snatched the paper back with a huff. ‘Stop judging my lack of artistic skill! I may be an amateur now, but one day I’ll be the next Sandro Botti-kelli!’

‘ _Boticelli._ ’ Nino corrected, shooting his girlfriend a wink as she fumed in his direction. ‘ _Il tuo italiano è cattivo, amore mio.’_

‘Don’t make fun of me in Italian just to pull it off as sexy. It’s not sexy.’ Alya paused. Then, she frowned. ‘It’s a little sexy.’

‘What are you advertising? Those stick figures look kind of like they’re strangling each other. Is this a campaign against domestic abuse?’

‘No, Adrien!’ She pouted, ‘They’re dancing! We’re advertising the Summer Ball.’

Adrien released a small ‘oh’ and narrowed his eyes at Alya’s questionable sketches. ‘I see it now!’ He lied. ‘Of course, they’re dancing!’

Alya huffed to prove she didn’t believe him, but continued her explanation nonetheless. ‘I’m the head of the ball’s planning team, which means I’m in charge of pretty much everything. Organising a venue, picking a theme, making posters,’ she sighed, ‘the posters are the trickiest so far. Could you help come up with some designs?’

‘I’m not too great at art either, but I’d be glad to help.’ Adrien gave her a warm smile and unfurled himself from Nino’s lap, rolling his shoulders to release any leftover tension from his back. ‘What do you want me to do?’

‘Just think of some designs. Any designs. We have to find the perfect font, the best colour scheme, the design must be flawless!’

Nino rolled his eyes at her grandeur directions. ‘Chill, Alya. It’s our final year of school, everyone’s gonna come regardless of what the posters look like. No need to get pent up about it.’

When Alya slowly craned her neck in Nino’s direction, he realised he’d made a grave mistake. No one, not even her boyfriend, could get away with demeaning Alya Cesaire. Nino watched as her lips pressed into a thin line, eyes blank and dangerous.

‘I have every reason to get ‘pent up’ about these posters.’ She said, tone quiet and dangerous, ignoring the nervous laugh Nino gave in response. All at once, she grabbed her startled boyfriend by the shoulders, punctuating each word with a violent shake, ‘THEY – MUST – BE - PERFECT!’

Adrien stared at them, wide-eyed, fumbling with consolations as a panicked expression took over Nino’s face. ‘Uh – Alya, it’s okay – please put Nino down!’

‘My God, why can’t I just have some pretty posters?’ She cried, shaking her poor boyfriend harder, ‘Why can’t anyone around here draw?!’

Just as Alya was reaching the peak of her mental breakdown, the door swung open and a blue-ish, pink-ish figure barrelled between the couple, separating Nino from Alya’s tough grip. It whirled around recklessly, knocking over pens and pencils with several high-pitched squeals before landing with an ‘oof!’ at Adrien’s feet. Adrien blinked rapidly, meeting eyes with the crumpled bundle of flushed cheeks and outspread limbs that was Marinette Dupain-Cheng, sprawled out in the middle of their cross-legged circle.

There was a short silence as the three friends tried to comprehend the situation. Despite her catastrophic entrance, Adrien was relieved to see her collapsed on the floor and stammering like a doll with a broken voice box. Whether she knew it or not, she had saved Nino from potential death, rescued Adrien from witnessing said death, and prevented Alya from serving life in prison for domestic murder.

The smile he gave her was warm and grateful. ‘Good morning, Marinette.’

Her face went even pinker. ‘Morning, good Adrien – ah – I mean – good morning, Adrien!’

Before he could thank her for diminishing a very awkward situation, Alya had swept her from the floor and pulled her into a tight hug. ‘Marinette!’ She mewled at her best friend, who somehow remained unphased as Alya squeezed her to oblivion. ‘My nearest and dearest friend, my wonderful and _amazing at drawing_ friend -’

‘- please tell me you’re here to help design posters!’ Nino interrupted pleadingly, and Marinette giggled as she shimmied out of Alya’s grip.

‘Yep! Sorry for the rushed entrance, by the way,’ she rolled her shoulders back, a spitting mirror image of Adrien just a moment before, ‘I’m pretty sore, so I took a little nap in the locker room to try and sleep off the pain.’

Alya and Nino met eyes.

‘Are you alright?’ Nino asked slowly.

‘I’m fine,’ she paused briefly to lick her lips before continuing with a tone that was almost too smooth, ‘I fell down the stairs. Into several boxes of cake.’

Alya regarded her with thoughtful silence. ‘Huh,’ she started, tilting her head in Adrien’s direction, ‘your excuse is almost as bad as blondie’s over there. I smell a secret rendezvous.’

‘A what?’ Marinette squeaked, shaking her hands in opposition.

Marinette and Adrien had been the targets of frequent innuendo as of late: by some sort of miraculous coincidence, they were often late together, aching together, making more and more creative excuses for their joint exhaustion. Of course, this was only a coincidence. Adrien knew for a fact that whatever late-night activities Marinette was hiding from them, it wasn’t fighting alongside Chat Noir on the Parisian rooftops.

Adrien preferred when he was oblivious to Alya and Nino playing Cupid. Although, it was his naïve innocence that made him all-the-more mortified when Nino asked if he and Marinette were _hangin’ and bangin’_.

‘No secret rendezvous.’ He said with a smile. ‘Marinette actually has standards.’

His three friends gave him identical looks of exasperation.

Did he say something stupid?

Marinette cleared her throat with an expression he couldn’t read, then took her pink, polka-dotted sketchbook out of her satchel. ‘So, I was thinking a silhouette of a group of people dancing. I was debating on just doing a couple, but I feel like that’s a little cliché. Besides, this ball is about hanging out with friends, right? We don’t want anyone excluded.’ She beamed at them, shining with enthusiasm, and something in Adrien’s chest warmed significantly. He’d admired Marinette’s devotion to her friends since they were preteens, marvelling at her ability to see promise in the most unlikely people. Ivan, Juleka, Chloe, even.

Did she see promise in him, too?

Marinette continued to discuss her ideas and Adrien snapped himself back to reality. ‘I’ve messed around with a few different poses, but positioning isn’t my strong-suit.’ She said, and waved over a few sketches that were either half-erased or even scribbled out in an apparent artistic rage. ‘Would you guys model for me? Just so I have an original reference?’

Nino cringed, ‘You mean, stand in the same position for hours while you draw us like we’re in the renaissance? Sounds pretty impossible.’

‘Sounds like my day job.’ Adrien mumbled, which made Alya laugh.

‘Let’s take a photo then! We can get the perfect image for Marinette without having to stand around for ages.’ She smirked at her best friend, ‘And that way, Marinette can be a part of it too.’

Marinette’s face fell. ‘Do I have to be in it?’

‘Of course! We need as many people as possible!’ Alya leapt to her feet and began a journey round the library, sweeping various peers and friends alike from their studies to join in. Some were enthusiastic, others disgruntled - either way, it seemed they had no other choice with Alya involved. She shooed Rose into the arms of Juleka, who breezily clasped their hands together; Alix, the shortest, was heaved onto Kim’s shoulders where they laughed and threw up a peace sign; Nathaniel bolted to the back of the group, insisting on doing a ‘ _High School Musical_ jump pose’ behind them. After some rearrangement according to height, Alya pushed Adrien and Marinette to the centre. Marinette spluttered out a few weak protests, but Alya replied with a careless shrug and nudged the two closer by the shoulders. Adrien, who was one-hundred-percent used to being tossed in front of a camera for modelling purposes, remained unphased.

‘Adrien, put your arm round her waist.’

He complied without complaining, sliding his hand to the curve above her hip. Marinette jolted as if he was electric, and Adrien sprung back, flooded with concern. ‘Did I hurt you?’

‘What? No! I mean-’ There was a pause as she met eyes with Alya. They proceeded to have some sort of cryptic girl-talk using only their gazes, and apparently, Marinette had lost the argument. She sighed. ‘I’m just not good at posing.’

It was a lie, Adrien knew it was. She’d always acted strangely around him, ever since they were thirteen. Constantly avoided his eye contact, speaking to him only in stammers; he’d even seen her leave the room after he’d just entered. For a while, her meekness around him was troubling, and often left him wondering if she simply hated him for some reason. He recognised that they had a misunderstanding when they’d first met, but Marinette was smart and sweet, with a strong will that could rival even Ladybug. He wanted desperately for them to be friends, but she always gave him the impression that he scared her.

After a while, however, he concluded that she was just a little shy. Alya and Nino reassured him that Marinette didn’t hate him at all, and soon he believed them. She’d given him her good luck charm when they were thirteen, kissed his cheek when they were fourteen, and now, three years later, she’d started bringing extra pastries for him at lunch time and would let him rest on her shoulder after a night of no sleep. She didn’t hate him, of course she didn’t. Maybe it was just the Agreste family status that intimidated her.

‘It’s okay,’ she said, knocking Adrien from his thoughts. ‘You can put your arm back.’ He tilted his head at her, just to double-check, and she responded with a nod. So, once again, he wrapped his arm around her. Slower this time, so he wouldn’t scare her.

‘Everyone bunch in closer!’ Alya commanded, and the group shuffled together until there was little space between them. Alya narrowed her eyes. ‘Closer! I still have to fit in with Nino on the end!’

Adrien passed a final glance at Marinette, who looked increasingly cramped as Kim and Alix squished to her right side. He gently tugged at her waist, ‘Turn to your side, so you’re closer to me.’

She flushed pale pink, shuffling awkwardly on the soles of her feet. But she complied, turning to a side profile so his side met her stomach. She peered at him uncertainly, then lifted a hand to place on his opposing shoulder. ‘Is this okay?’ She mouthed at him, and he beamed at her with an enthusiastic thumbs-up. Alya grinned from behind her phone, then set a timer for the photograph.

‘Ten seconds, everyone!’ She yelled, darting to jump on her boyfriend’s back. Nino wobbled for a moment under her sudden weight, threatening to knock them out of frame, but quickly adjusted as though she was as light as a feather. They counted down together, perfecting their poses on the final second (Nathaniel jumped up behind them with his arms in the air) and the lens flashed like a wink in front of them. Alya ran back to her phone to inspect the photo.

She shook her head with a frown.

‘Sorry guys, it wasn’t in focus. Again, everybody!’

They must have taken several photos before the shot was perfect. Nino looked ready to buckle after supporting Alya’s weight for most of their free period, and Nathaniel wheezed heavier every time he landed from his _Disney Channel_ leap. Adrien had absently started massaging Marinette’s lower back as an apology for being stuck in his arms, and she willingly let him ease the knots from her aching muscles.

She must have hit those cake boxes hard, Adrien mused.

When Alya inspected the final photo, she sighed in relief, and the group cheered at the opportunity to move again. Adrien released Marinette, Kim shook Alix off his shoulders, Nathaniel collapsed to the floor. Juleka and Rose, still holding hands, bid them an exasperated farewell and returned to their studies.

‘Here, Marinette.’ Alya sent the photo to her best friend, who opened her phone to review it. ‘Make sure you change the hairstyles and stuff – I don’t want people to think I’m prejudice because only my friends made it to the poster. Oh! And put us all in formal dress!’

‘Is there a theme yet?’ She asked, beginning to draft some outlines in her sketchpad.

‘I’m casting a vote on my Instagram tonight, so I’ll text you the details.’ Alya pushed herself off the carpet to stand up and beckoned for Nino to follow. ‘I’ve gotta hand in a book I’ve borrowed. Come with me?’

As the couple wandered off, Adrien watched Marinette sketch with warm curiosity, admiring the fluid movement of the pencil between her fingers. She shaped a ballroom skirt on Alya, a sharp bowtie on Kim, a sweetheart neckline on Rose, a cinched blazer on Juleka. Marinette’s attention to detail was immaculate, even in such a rough drawing. Using the coloured pencils, she criss-crossed deep shading and dashed on streams of white highlight, outlined the figures in a rainbow of colours to create the essence of pop-art, almost comicbook-like in style. Adrien was vaguely aware that Nino’s red sneakers had come to a stop beside him, but he kept most of his concentration on Marinette’s porcelain fingers curled around a green pencil.

In what seemed like the far distance, he heard Nino chuckle. His best friend slumped next to him on the carpet, and Marinette’s audience increased to two. ‘So, who are you asking?’ He eventually asked, and plugged a headphone into Adrien’s ear. The left side of his hearing was overcome with a smoky voice, a slow beat, a low bass. A keyboard tickled his senses over the soft scrape of Marinette’s pencil on her sketchbook, and Adrien visibly shuddered.

‘This is pretty. What is it?’

‘ _Cigarettes After Sex_. I thought it would be a good slow jam for the ball.’

Adrien replied with a pleased hum, forgetting Nino’s previous question. His friend jabbed him in the ribs, startling him from the soft music.

‘Ball. Date. Who?’ Nino repeated. Adrien blinked at him, then coughed awkwardly. He was hoping to avoid that situation altogether.

‘I thought Marinette said it was gonna be a friend thing?’

‘I’ve already planned how I’m asking Alya.’ Nino said, smirking to himself. ‘Come on, dude, you’ve been on one date your entire life. With _Kagami,_ of all people.’

‘Kagami’s nice!’ Adrien argued. Across from them, Marinette snorted, and Nino nodded at her in agreement.

‘Maybe, but she still scares the shit out of me. No way I’d be coming to that wedding – I can see her glaring at me for my music choices the entire night…’

‘Who says you’re DJing at my wedding?’ Adrien grinned. ‘She’s not that bad.’

‘Yeah, yeah, just get a friendlier date. It can be literally anyone, I just want to see my boy get some for once!’

Adrien paused for a moment, pretending to think. ‘Chloé?’ He suggested, and Marinette, who’d had the tip of a pencil between her teeth, choked on it at his suggestion.

‘Don’t be an idiot.’ Nino frowned, and Adrien laughed. ‘There are plenty of Adrien fans at this school, you’ll be dealing with invitations left right and centre. But, for God’s sake, accept one this time!’

‘As much as I’d love to listen to Adrien get lectured on his ladies-in-waiting, I’m gonna head home.’ Marinette interjected, proceeding to clasp her sketchbook shut and tidy away the pencils, raising her eyebrows and laughing in a self-deprecating way. ‘I don’t need another reminder that I’ll probably go to the ball dateless.’

Adrien and Nino rushed to disagree with her, spewing out cheesy compliments until she was giggling. ‘There’s nothing wrong with just going to the ball with friends, anyway!’ Nino argued.

‘No, there isn’t – but someone’s gonna ask my best friend to go with him instead of me.’ She stuck her tongue out at Nino and stood up, pulled the strap of her satchel over her shoulder and prepared to bid them farewell. Adrien noted how her gaze lingered on him for a while, and he met her eyes with curiosity and concern. Before he could ask if she was okay, her lips parted to speak.

‘Adrien?’

He blinked at her.

‘Yeah?’

Nino glanced rapidly between them in a bizarre mixture of awe, distress, and enthusiasm. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see him nodding at Marinette encouragingly. She chewed on her lower lip, teetered in her ballet flats.

‘… Don’t worry about it.’ She decided, before giving him a weak smile and sweeping out of the room.

Adrien furrowed his eyebrows at the empty space she left, confused, but used to Marinette’s habit of leaving intentions unfinished - particularly when her intentions involved him. He turned to look at Nino for help. ‘What was that about?’

‘Nothing,’ Nino sighed, ‘Alya would have been devastated she missed it if it actually happened, anyway.’

‘If what actually happened?’

‘Oh, Adrien, my poor, naïve child.’ He cooed, reaching over to ruffle his hair. Adrien chuckled and grabbed his wrist to stop him midway, then tried to smooth down the mess of blonde on his head. Nino helped him flatten a cowlick on his crown. ‘C’mon then, are you gonna ask someone to the ball?’

‘I’ll think about it.’ Adrien replied, turning his attention to the window. There was a smudge of black and red spots against the blue sky, and he froze, wondering he’d imagined it. All at once, he didn’t care whether he’d actually seen her or not: he took it as a sign; a smile crept to his lips.

‘In fact, I might have someone in mind already.’

He stood, leaving Nino gaping at him, just as the final school bell rung. Hiking his backpack up on his shoulders, he begun a brisk walk to the nearest bathroom. After his routine check of each empty stall to assure him he was alone, he called upon Plagg for transformation and swung out the window, leaping into the Parisian blue sky.

‘I have to ask,’ He said to himself, relishing in the disappearance of his designer clothing as his catsuit stretched to meet his movement with ease, ‘I have to try!’. Running a clawed hand through his blonde locks, he dishevelled his signature Adrien hairstyle and became a stranger to the image of his human self plastered on the towering billboards around him, labelled with the Agreste logo and bold slogans about wings and freedom and masculinity. The grin on Chat Noir’s lips, unlike Adrien’s model smile on the billboards, was genuine.

In ten minutes, she would meet him on the top floor of the Notre Dame for their usual patrol, and there would be his opportunity. She’d rejected him before, he reminded himself, picturing her failed appearance to their candlelit date years prior. But they were older now – closer, too.

She might say yes. The possibility was there.

He swung himself in through the famous rose window, landing with the balance of a cat underneath the church bell. This is where he would wait for her, every other evening, with the same giddy excitement for her presence that he’d had since he was twelve. He glanced up at the shining bronze of the bell, fussing with his distorted reflection, brushing his fringe in and out of his eyes. It was then that he heard singing, distantly at first, but loud enough to know it was her; she took her time, climbing up the clock tower leisurely.

 _‘Des yeux qui font baisser les miens, un rire qui se perd sur sa bouche,’_ She sung, her soft voice echoing on the ancient walls, circling the hollow of the bell _. ‘Voila le portrait sans retouches, de l'homme auquel j'appartiens.’_ Her voice grew louder as she approached the top of the tower, and then he could see her, the sweet melody of the famous French love song warming his cheeks and swelling in his heart. He backed into the corner, hiding from her. He didn’t want to interrupt her ethereal voice.

 _‘Quand il me prend dans ses bras, il me parle l'a tout bas,’_ She swung through the window, a blur of black and red, a delightful smile on her face that made Chat Noir beam with affection _. ‘Je vois la vie en rose.’_ He hummed along with her as she continued, singing words of love and rose-coloured perception, complete devotion.

 _‘C'est lui pour moi, moi pour lui dans la vie’_ She lifted a hand to circle the ring of the bell, _‘il me l'a dit, l'a jure pour la vie!’_

‘Beautiful singing, my lady,’ Chat couldn’t help but say, grinning as she jumped at his voice, ‘truly the cat’s meow.’

‘Chaton!’ Ladybug glared at him as he emerged from the shadows, folding her arms with a cute pout. ‘Don’t sneak up on me like that!’

‘Sorry.’ He smiled sheepishly at her. ‘Good day?’

‘Fantastic day.’ She giggled, dancing over to him. He marvelled at her, red and black spotted as usual, her confidence unfading, the warmth in her blue eyes was entrancing. ‘Beautiful blue sky, hanging out with friends,’ she clapped her hands together, ‘totally aced my French literature essay!’

She’s in a good mood, he noted, smiling down at her. There wasn’t a better time to ask. ‘School’s nearly over,’ he mused, ‘are you going to prom?’

‘I think my best friend would kill me if I didn’t,’ She laughed, ‘Of course I am. Are you? Got a pretty girl to ask?’ She waggled her eyebrows at him, and he met her humour with focused eye contact.

‘The prettiest.’ He murmured, leaning close to her face. She blinked up at him, confusion flashing in her eyes and a blush warming her cheeks as he grinned at her.

‘She must really be something, if she makes you smile like that.’

‘Oh, she is.’ He continued to gaze at her, waiting for her to say something. When she didn’t, he cleared his throat. ‘Ladybug, would you-’

‘Chat,’ she started, interrupting his proposal with a sad, and slightly exasperated smile, ‘we can’t do this again. I’m sorry.’

He gulped, disappointment hitting the pit of his stomach. ‘You didn’t even let me finish.’

Ladybug shrugged at him and snaked her arms around her shoulders. It looked like she was trying to comfort herself. As if she was the one who needed comforting, Chat thought bitterly.

And then it began: the age-old, patronising speech about concealing their identities and separating duty from personal life. Chat had heard it so many times that the words were beginning to fade into a garbled mess; constant repetitions of ‘we have a duty to fulfil’, and ‘we have to stay professional’, and ‘we can’t risk revealing ourselves’. After a while, Chat Noir stopped listening. He felt embarrassed, rejected, and stupid for trying in the first place.

‘Yeah, whatever.’ He said, which shut Ladybug up. ‘Look, you don’t need to sugarcoat it, if you’ve already asked that guy you like then-’

‘It’s not about that!’ She exclaimed, and Chat hesitated at the hurt in her voice. ‘Do you think I enjoy hurting your feelings? We’re partners, chat. You…’ She frowned, looking away from him. ‘You know me better than my parents do.’

‘No, I don’t, not really!’ He grabbed her shoulders, desperate to change her mind. ‘Ladybug, I don’t know anything about your civilian form, and you don’t know anything about me either! There’s so much I want to tell you, and so much I want to know about you.’

He exhaled deeply, rested his forehead against hers.

‘You know how I feel for you, my lady.’ He whispered.

He could feel her trembling.

‘Chat,’ Ladybug whispered, cupping his face with both hands, ‘how would it work, Chat? If I said yes to you, if we dated, Hawk Moth would use that as blackmail. He could take you from me.’

‘Then we keep it a secret!’

‘For how long?’ She asked incredulously. ‘Chat, I care about you. You complete me. But it wouldn’t work, you and me, not while Hawk Moth is still running loose.’

He paused for a long while. He’d heard her use that reasoning before, multiple times, and it infuriated him that it only became more and more true.

‘Ask someone else,’ she murmured, taking his chin so they met eyes, ‘anyone would be lucky to go with you.’

It was his final chance, and her final rejection. Chat was heartbroken.

‘Ask someone else.’ He repeated, dumbly, and she nodded.

‘Being with me would be too dangerous. I’d rather keep you as my friend than risk the worst.’

It was quiet. A gentle breeze rushed through the rose window, swayed the bell, danced through Ladybug’s inky hair. The world felt picturesque, a painting, colourful and beautiful and yet so desperately sad.

‘Okay.’ Chat rasped, his breath ragged. His emotions were raw; he had no idea what to do with them. ‘Okay,’ he said again, ‘promise me something, then.’

She pressed her lips together cautiously, raising an eyebrow at him. ‘What?’

‘Let’s go on a date. When this is all over, when Hawk Moth’s gone for good.’ Grabbing her hands, he laced their fingers together.

Creation and destruction linked together by their entwined hands.

‘Chat-’

‘ _Promise me.’_

Ladybug looked at him, her irises darting left and right as she focused on each of his eyes. She chewed on her lip, thinking it over. ‘Close your eyes.’

He followed her directions without question, as he always did. He felt her hands slide from his grip, trace up his chest to his shoulders, her breath on his lower lip.

‘Fine,’ she whispered, ‘it’s a date.’

And all at once, her hands were on his face again and she was kissing him. Chat was beyond shocked, his arms limp at his sides, unsure what to do with himself despite having dreamed about this moment multiple times. She tasted like glacé cherries and icing sugar, and something warmer – gingerbread? Cinnamon? Their lips weren’t together long enough to find out. It was so like her, he thought, as she pulled away from him. So like Ladybug to keep it short and sweet.

Still baffled and flustered, Chat forgot to open his eyes. He licked his lips, where hers just were, and gasped out a breath of realisation. His eyes snapped open.

Of course, she was gone. And Chat Noir wanted to laugh and cry all at once.


	2. 2

Nino’s house was cooler than Adrien’s.

Not in the traditional sense, he supposed: Adrien’s mansion was by far more expensive and expansive, with several rooms and precious décor and cooks and butlers and secretaries. Sure, Adrien’s room had a beautiful view of the Parisian rooftops with a glorious balcony and a grand piano – but Nino’s room had _character._

There was Andy Warhol pop-art on the walls, mood lighting and lava lamps, earthy carpets and wall scrolls, long strings of beads that hung in front of his door. He had houseplants on his windowsill, a gaming PC, and a colourful portrait of him and Alya that was probably painted by Nathaniel. Nino’s late-night DJing was certainly having its perks.

‘Are you going to tell me what’s got you bummed out?’ Nino threw a pillow at his best friend, laughing when it hit him square in the face. ‘Just vent to me until you feel better so we can go ahead with our plan.’

Adrien lifted the pillow from his face and frowned at it. Bright red, cherry red, sighing at him and arguing with him and _kissing_ him-

‘Dude!’ Nino yanked the pillow from his grip and squinted at it, wondering what an earth it did to Adrien to make him glare at it like that. ‘What has gotten into you?!’

Adrien managed a mumbled apology and sat up in his best friend’s bed. He wasn’t entirely sure whether to even start this conversation; anything superhero related was a strict no-go out of costume. Ladybug always said so.

Though, he supposed, Ladybug wasn’t here to scold him.

‘I did what you said. I tried to ask a girl to the Summer Ball.’ He turned to look at Nino, whose mouth had become ‘o’-shaped, realisation behind his glasses. Adrien rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t look at me like that.’

‘Who was it?’

‘You don’t know her.’ He said immediately, quick to protect Ladybug’s identity despite their somewhat strained relationship. ‘I’ve known her for years, actually, we…’ Adrien narrowed his eyes at the keyboard in the corner of the room. ‘… we go to piano lessons together.’

‘Rejected by your own muse, huh.’ Nino said slowly, and Adrien sighed again. ‘Jesus, Adrien, I didn’t know you were so dramatic.’

‘You’re supposed to be helping me get over her!’ Adrien moaned, snatching the pillow back to bury his face in. ‘That’s what friends do, right?’

‘Look, I get you’re upset and heartbroken and whatever, but you’re Adrien-fucking-Agreste!’ Nino leapt to his feet, shaking the bed springs underneath him. ‘Paris’s most beloved teen model! The wet dream of every girl at our school!’

‘Not _her_ wet dream, though.’ Adrien moped, and Nino scoffed, nudging him in the ribs with the tip of his bare foot.

‘Who cares? If a _model,_ of all people, not to mention a kind, endearing, smart one, isn’t enough for this chick - maybe you’re not the one with the issue here!’

Adrien lifted his chin to blink up at his best friend, his lips parting a little in surprise. ‘You think I’m kind, smart, and endearing?’

‘Of course I do, man!’ Nino collapsed back onto the bed, landing in a cross-legged position, springing the mattress up and down. ‘Anyone would be lucky to have you!’

‘Thanks, Nino.’ He said, genuinely flattered. ‘I really appreciate that.’

His best friend grinned at him. Adrien, however, could only offer a sad smile in return. Nino sighed and pulled his baseball cap off his head, running a hand through his dark hair before throwing an arm around him. ‘Can I do anything to help? We could paint each other’s nails and eat ice cream and cry at _The Notebook_ together, if you want?’

Adrien chuckled a little, ‘That might be an idea.’

There was a moment where they just sat like that, together, watching the plants rustle by the open window. Nino, who had been uncertainly chewing his lip for the past minute or so, finally asked the question he seemed too cautious to bring up.

‘Are you sure it was some girl from your piano class? Like, you’re not lying to me, right?’

A ripple of nervousness passed through him. ‘I – I’m not lying.’

Nino gave him a look, as if he was supposed to know exactly what he was insinuating.

‘You sure it wasn’t Marinette?’

‘What?’ Adrien’s stare snapped from the plants to Nino. ‘No – no, it wasn’t Marinette.’ He furrowed his eyebrows. ‘Why?’

‘She turned down some poor sod yesterday. I guess it couldn’t have been you – Alya said she’s been rejecting this guy since forever.’ Nino laughed. ‘You’d think he’d get the hint, huh?’

Adrien slumped his shoulders, and after noticing, Nino stopped laughing. An awkward silence passed between them; Adrien broke it with a long exhale.

‘I know it seems stupid,’ he started, ‘she’s turned down every advance I’ve made on her since we were, like, twelve. So why would I ask again? I thought-’ he pressed his lips together, feeling embarrassed and stupid once again, ‘I thought it was different this time. I thought we were closer. God, we’ve spent so much time together it seems impossible to just get over her.’

Nino was quiet. He released his arm from the blonde boy and moved so he was crouching on the floor in front of him, making direct eye contact. ‘Adrien, what is it you love about her so much?’

‘Everything,’ Adrien replied, immediately, ‘she is absolute perfection. Every inch of her. She’s all I think about.’

Nino’s gaze was sympathetic. ‘Answer me honestly.’

‘Always.’

‘Do you think that’s healthy?’

Adrien felt like shattering.

‘Healthy?’ He breathed, helplessly.

‘Putting her on a pedestal like that,’ Nino tilted his head at him, placed a hand on his knee, ‘that leaves no room for you, dude.’

It wasn’t something that he’d ever considered. Ladybug always came first, whether she liked it or not. It was his place to protect her at all costs: she had the power to create, to fix everything at the tip of her fingers with just a single swing of her yo-yo. If Chat Noir had to sacrifice himself to protect her, there was no question about it; of course, she hated losing him, but she was always able to bring him back. And if, one day, he was lost to an akuma and her good luck couldn’t save him…

Would it really matter? Would the world really change if Adrien Agreste was gone forever?

She was his everything. She was the holder of the Ladybug miraculous, debatably the most powerful in existence. She was the most valuable to the public’s safety. She was the most valuable to _him._ It was impossible for him to stop prioritising her.

‘It doesn’t matter if there’s no room for me,’ Adrien said, ‘there usually never is.’

Nino frowned at him. ‘Not with her, maybe. And not with your father, either.’ He patted his knee again, a gentle reminder of his presence. ‘But know that I will always, _always,_ make room for you, Adrien.’

Adrien smiled at him, ducking his head in a combination of warmth and bashfulness. Nino had always been an emotional person (especially after too many glasses of his parents’ red wine, he noted from experience.) Day by day, he continued to make an effort to boost Adrien’s low self-esteem, weighed down by years of modelling and family trauma. He theorised that Nino’s companionship, confidence building, and bad flirting advice was what built his alter-ego’s personality. Chat Noir was just the version of Adrien that was sure of himself, the version that actually believed in Nino’s compliments.

There was a knock on the door downstairs, dissolving the sombre atmosphere. Nino gave his friend a final thumbs up of encouragement before making his way to the window, leaning over the potted plants so he could stick his head outside. ‘What’s the password?’ He yelled down.

‘I brought cinnamon rolls!’ A tiny voice shouted back. Nino grinned.

‘Come on up! I’ll get my boombox!’ Gesturing for Adrien to stay put, he slipped through the beads in his doorway. Adrien listened to him jog halfway down the stairs, meeting their visitor in the middle. They exchanged a few muffled words he couldn’t hear before parting ways.

Adrien blew a strand of hair out of his eyes and tapped his feet absent-mindedly. His conversation with Nino made him realise he needed to re-evaluate: for now, however, he was at ease.

Passing through the curtain of beads came Marinette, introduced first by the flow of a terrific knee-length skirt, patterned red and white and blue, secured high at the waist. Her hair was in her usual pigtails, the ends reaching to brush the tips of her shoulders, inky blue-black tendrils against a white crop top. In one hand, she held a steaming paper bag of cinnamon rolls; in the other, a pair of red suede ankle boots.

It happened too often, her ability to stun Adrien into silence with her fashion, her outfits that were so strategically amalgamated and yet pulled off as completely effortless. She designed and stitched that skirt, he bet she did – it had ‘future fashion icon, Marinette Dupain-Cheng’ written all over it.

‘Hi, Adrien.’ She greeted with a shy smile, placing her heeled boots neatly on the carpet. She lifted the paper bag arms-reach to him. ‘Want one?’

‘Please,’ He smiled, carefully lifting one of the pastries out of the bag, ‘it’s just what I needed.’

‘Difficult few days?’ Marinette asked, perching next to him on the bed.

‘Disappointing, to say the least.’ He brought the cinnamon roll to his mouth and took a large bite, chewed luxuriously, hummed when the icing melted on his tongue. ‘You?’

She gave him an awkward smile in response. ‘… Delicate.’ She decided.

‘I heard.’ Adrien chuckled, ‘Turning down hordes of hopeless romantics, are we?’

‘Just the one,’ she laughed, ‘I just hope he got the message this time, for his own sake.’

They ate their pastries listening to Nino fumbling around on the floor below. Adrien watched Marinette chew her last mouthful, swallow, then lift her fingers to suck the remnants of icing off her fingertips. Adrien blinked at her stupidly as she did so, feeling slightly warm, and very much that he shouldn’t be watching her do it.

 _Well,_ he thought, pressing his lips together as her fingers left her mouth, _this is new._

‘You have a little pastry on your chin.’ She pointed out, snapping him out of her trance.

‘Oh.’ He cleared his throat and swiped at his face, feeling around for the pesky crumb. ‘Did I get it?’

She laughed, her voice like a music box, and reached out to cup his face. Adrien froze as her thumb brushed over his chin, sweeping away the stray piece of cinnamon roll. They made eye contact: he watched her blush, and felt his own cheeks heat up.

_This is definitely new._

‘That guy you turned down,’ He said without thinking, dragging himself out of those sapphire irises, ‘why did you say no?’

She inhaled suddenly, releasing her hand from his face. ‘I, uh…’

‘I get it’s personal!’ He rushed, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish smile, ‘It’s just…’ he gulped under her curious gaze, trying desperately not to sneak a look at those rosy lips. ‘… I was on the opposite end of your situation just recently. I thought maybe you could give some insight.’

Marinette’s eyebrows shot up her forehead while her jaw dropped to the floor. ‘Someone turned you down?’

‘Yes.’

‘Why?’ She asked, as if the answer was impossible.

‘Well, that’s the thing…’ He shrugged at her. ‘I get the feeling she was making excuses that I’d heard a million times before.’

His friend frowned at him, ‘She obviously has no standards,’ she said, then flung her hand to her mouth in shock. ‘Uh – I mean!’

Adrien blinked at her in disbelief. Then, he burst into laughter, hands over his stomach, tears in his eyes, revelling in his rare opportunity to see Marinette’s snarky side. ‘Thanks for thinking I’m high standard, Mari,’ he guffawed, grinning at her. She eyed him warily, but seemed to relax when she realised he didn’t take her sentiment to heart.

‘Well,’ she clicked her tongue, thinking over her explanation, ‘I guess the biggest reason I said no was fear.’

‘Fear? Marinette has fears like every other human being?’ He mock-gasped. She punched him lightly in the shoulder.

‘Don’t underestimate my doubtfulness,’ she giggled, ‘the idea of dating him really did terrify me.’

‘Can I ask why?’ Adrien asked, and she thought for a moment.

‘He doesn’t know me very well, to start. Because of that, I think he sees me as some kind of flawless goddess or something. Which is a nice thought, don’t get me wrong! He has more faith in me than anyone else I know.’ She sighed. ‘But that’s a lot of pressure to put on someone who’s got a lot of insecurity.’

Adrien nodded, reminding her that he was listening. She continued.

‘The thing is, if I agreed to date him, that means that he’d get to know me better.’

‘That’s a bad thing?’ He asked slowly.

‘Yes, it’s a bad thing!’ She groaned, hands flying upwards to grab at her scalp. The look of distraught on her face made him feel guilty; as if it was him that was giving her trouble. ‘He’s got me built up in his mind as this immaculate girl, but that’s not who I am. Not the real me, anyway. He’d only be disappointed.’

It was so strange, watching the class president curl up and cringe before him. She was a teenaged girl, he reminded himself, she obviously had romance troubles like every other seventeen-year-old. Her self-consciousness was surprising to him, but also incredibly familiar.

‘I get it.’ He said. She met eyes with him. ‘I mean, I don’t think you could ever disappoint anybody. I think you’re amazing.’ He fiddled with his hands. ‘But that insecurity you have, the feeling of disappointing those who have an idealistic perception of you – I understand that, one-hundred-percent.’

She smiled at him. ‘I suppose it can be hard opening up to those who only see you as an Agreste.’

Adrien wanted to agree with her, to burst into complaints about his fans and his father and Nathalie to someone who finally understood. Adrien repeated her words in his head: _‘He sees me as some kind of flawless goddess’._ He remembered what Nino said about putting Ladybug on a pedestal, how it left no room for him in the picture.

Maybe it didn’t leave room for Ladybug, either.

There was a crash below them and a loud string of curses.

‘FUCK!’ Nino yelled from downstairs. ‘FUCK – GOD – FUCK, SHIT – DAMMIT, STUPID CLOSET! SON OF A WHORE!’

Adrien and Marinette shared an awkward smile before hurrying downstairs to assist. They entered the living room to find Nino sprawled out of the floor, covered in knick-knacks and cleaning supplies and dusty books, the closet door behind him wide open.

‘My boombox…’ He moaned from under the rubble. ‘Is it alive?’

Adrien scanned his surroundings for his friend’s beloved music player. He identified it amongst a pile of old comic books and picked it up, dusting off the speakers and scanning for any sign of its untimely death. ‘It’s alive.’ He concluded.

‘Marinette…’ Nino reached towards her dramatically, a deck of cards sliding off his arm. ‘Do you have… the cassette tape?’

‘I have it.’ She consoled, rummaging through her pocket. She held it out for him to see. ‘It took ages searching through Dad’s collection, but I found it.’

‘Good…’ Nino wheezed, taking the small box from her hand. He eyed it with anticipation, a wide smirk as he read the word _NICKELBACK_ plastered on the front in bold, black sharpie. ‘My plan will now commence.’

‘Jesus,’ Adrien breathed, ‘he’s really going through with this.’

‘Call Alya.’ He commanded, still laying beneath the mess of household bits-and-bobs.

Marinette nodded. Her phone cover was pink polka-dotted like all of the rest of her things, Adrien noticed, as she pressed the speakerphone button.

‘Marinette!’ Alya’s voice shot out from the phone, loud and enthusiastic, ‘If you’re finally calling about asking Adrien to-’ Marinette’s eyes went wide and she hastily turned speakerphone off, smacking her mobile to her ear. Adrien raised his eyebrows, but decided not to question her.

‘Yeah, uh – about that! I need to talk to you about it. In person. I’ll be at yours, in say…’ She looked at Nino nervously, who held up one finger. ‘One minute!’

‘One minute?!’ Nino wheezed, forced to stay quiet so his girlfriend wouldn’t hear him. ‘I meant one hour, Mari!’

A panicked expression took over the poor girl’s face, but it was too late to recover. She sounded suspicious enough already. ‘Okay, ha-ha, yeah, I’ll be right there!’ She attempted to maintain a chipper tone as Adrien and Nino scrambled on the floor, gathering the boombox, cassette tape, a banner and a marker, before wheeling Marinette out the door with them, Nino’s carkeys between Adrien’s teeth.

‘Alya, I can’t really talk about that right now. I, um, would rather have that conversation once I’m at yours!’

‘Could she be any more suspicious?’ Nino hissed, hurling Adrien into the driver’s seat.

‘Woah, woah, Nino, I don’t have my provisional!’ Adrien pleaded, ‘I’ve only just started taking driving lessons!’

‘I can’t be in the driver’s seat! It’s not part of the plan!’ He looked at Marinette, who was still on the phone. She shook her head at him violently.

‘Yeah, Alya, I was just thinking about how _I can’t drive!_ ’

Nino looked like he was going to burst with rage. Marinette squeaked as Alya’s voice buzzed through the speakers.

‘N-no reason! I-I think Nino’s just sick of giving me rides!’

‘Drive, Adrien! We have twenty seconds!’ Nino screamed, launching himself into the backseat.

‘Holy shit – okay, I’ll do it!’ Adrien fumbled with Nino’s keys, trying to remember all the knowledge about cars he hadn’t been taught yet before turning the ignition. ‘Everybody sit tight!’

‘See ya!’ Marinette just about sobbed into her phone, grabbing her seatbelt fearfully.

The drive to Alya’s was wobbly, half lightning fast and half painfully slow, and Nino screamed in the backseat the entire way there. As their friend’s apartment block finally appeared on the horizon, Nino grabbed Adrien’s shoulder, wheezing heavily as though he was close to death.

 ‘Okay – I’m gonna open the sunroof. You drive slowly – _slowly!_ Towards her window. Think you can manage that?’

‘Just about.’ Adrien gulped, relieved that they’d made it in one piece. Marinette shakily reached for her phone and opened her messages, tapping a brief sentence to send to their target.

‘I’ve told her to come to the window.’

‘I see her.’ Nino breathed, snatching his boombox.

There she was, on the first floor of the apartment, hand pressed against the glass and squinting into the distance. She hadn’t recognised Nino’s car, yet.

‘Now, Nino!’ Adrien said, and his best friend took a huge breath.

Slowly, he lifted the boombox out through the sunroof, into the air above them.

Then, he pressed play.

An electric guitar blasted through the street, obnoxiously loud; just as Nino wanted it to be. He stood up taller, his head now through the sunroof, visible to his girlfriend as Adrien inched the car closer. ‘ALYA!’ He called over the instrumental.

‘Nino?’ They saw her say, eyes wide, mouth open. She wrestled her window open and leaned out, cringing at the loud music. She yelled something at him that looked like ‘what the fuck are you doing’, but they couldn’t hear her over Nickelback’s whiney singing.

‘I CAN’T HEAR YOU!’ Nino shouted back at her, laughing with delight before carefully crawling out through the sunroof. Nickelback’s _Far Away_ was becoming evermore deafening and sappy, drawling out lyrics about ‘one chance’ and ‘one breath’. Adrien wanted to die listening to it as Nino stood upright on the roof of his car, holding the boombox high above his head.

‘I LOVE YOUUUUU!’ Nino sung along, swaying the stereo left and right. ‘AND I’VE LOVED YOU ALL ALONG!’

Marinette was laughing beside him at the ridiculous situation, at Nino screaming Nickelback at the top of his lungs and Alya staring at him in horror and amazement. It was infectious, and Adrien couldn’t help laugh, too.

‘IS THAT NICKELBACK?!’ Alya yelled, muffled behind the song, ‘WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!’

They were just beneath her window now, stirring a scene in the neighbourhood. Alya’s parents stood in the doorway, looking unamused at the disturbance as their neighbours interrogated them relentlessly, pointing at the group of teenagers and with seemingly questionable music taste.

‘I NEED TO HEAR YOU SAY!’ Nino sung, preparing for the finale.

The music came to a crescendo. Nickelback belted out a long ‘I love you’ as Nino flung up the banner, the word ‘PROM’ scrawled messily across it (Marinette had to write it in the midst of Adrien’s terrible driving.) Alya clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes darting back and forth as she read and reread the sign. Then, all at once, she was howling with laughter, hanging out the window so far that she easily could have fallen.

‘Will you?’ He called up to her as the music died out.

‘You’re so stupid!’ She cackled, scrutinising the car. ‘You made Adrien drive?!’

‘Details, details! I’m alive, aren’t I?’ He beamed up at her as Alya waved down at them. Adrien shot goofy finger guns at her and Marinette made a heart with her hands.

‘Are you gonna make me stand here all night?’ Nino asked, marching to the front of the car roof. ‘Be my prom date!’

Alya laughed beautifully, her face red with laughter and fluster.

‘I will!’ She yelled, and the car erupted with cheers. The neighbours clapped for them uncertainly before returning to their flats, having been exposed to more Nickelback than they had asked for. Adrien and Marinette watched as Alya furiously convinced Nino to catch her from her bedroom window, and they braced themselves as Alya launched herself off the windowsill and landed in his arms. The roof of the car made a ‘thunk’ under the new weight, unsettling the couple. They wobbled, grasping each other, before tumbling into the grass of Alya’s front lawn.

‘Oh my god – are they okay?!’ Marinette gasped. Adrien swiftly unbuckled his seatbelt and leapt out the car door, scanning the garden for their bodies. Marinette peered out the window behind him, fearing the worst.

It was then they both saw them, bodies still clasped together, kissing aggressively in the grass.

‘Ah,’ Adrien started, matching Marinette’s embarrassed expression as the couple made out on the ground in front of them.

Their intentions swiftly grew a little too passionate for the public eye – and their friends’ eyes, for that matter. ‘Did they forget we’re still here?’ Marinette asked, just as Alya rolled Nino on his back to gain the upper hand in their mouth battle. Adrien crept back into the car, not wanting to disturb them, but also fearing that he was scarred for life.

He cleared his throat, pretending to be particularly interested in the steering wheel. ‘Well,’ he started, ‘we have Nino’s car. We could just…’ He paused, slowly turning to face his friend. Marinette had a mischievous smirk on her face.

‘Let’s ditch ‘em.’ She whispered, ‘Maybe stealing his car will teach them not to make us third wheels again.’

‘And with my terrible driving, we’ll escape in no time.’ Adrien winked at her, turning the keys in the ignition once more. ‘Where to?’

‘Wherever there’s good music!’ Marinette whooped as Adrien backed the car away from Alya’s apartment, ‘I need to get that Nickelback song out of my head!’

In the growing distance, Nino and Alya separated. Nino whipped around, his shirt wrinkled and halfway up his stomach, eyes widening once he spotted his car slowly rolling away.

‘HEY!’ He yelled, anger taking over his face as he made to bolt towards them.

Adrien grinned, gave his best friend a two-fingered salute, then slammed his foot down on the pedal. The car revved delightedly and launched down the street, leaving Nino and Alya in the dust. Marinette laughed, gripping her seat tightly as Adrien gradually got the hang of driving, still unable to prevent the occasional stalling and speed infrequencies. He fumbled with the steering wheel, trying to appear calm so his friend in the passenger seat wouldn’t grow too scared.

She, however, ended up surprising him.

Steadily, with a little nervousness in her eyes, she lifted herself up through the open sunroof. Adrien gawked at her, trying hard to focus on the road as Marinette stood from the torso-up into pure sky, wind whipping through her inky hair. She spread her arms outwards, suddenly fearless, laughing into open air.

‘Onwards!’ She cheered, waving at the Eiffel Tower as it passed in the distance.

Adrien smiled, relaxing his panicked grip on the steering wheel.

The man Marinette turned down was the unluckiest guy in the world, he decided.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Marinette, your ladybug is showing <3
> 
> ... I actually kinda like Nickelback.
> 
> Marinette's outfit inspiration: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8OZDDuaOxe4/U9fEBWc3AWI/AAAAAAAAARU/wPeFbM9pzxM/s1600/vlcsnap-2014-07-28-14h55m26s51.png
> 
> Thank you for all the support on chapter 1! I'm so sorry for everyone that thought it was a oneshot - I was stupid and forgot to make it multiple-chaptered.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed! <3


	3. 3

Light was beginning to pour through the Victorian windows, and Marinette watched with eyes barely cracked open as the sun rose before her. For the third time this week she had beaten her alarm, spending an hour or so watching the minutes tick by, managing to press the off button before it could even begin its ungodly beeping. After nearly six years of being Paris’s most esteemed superhero, Marinette had learned to sleep light: it could have been gut instinct, or just blatant paranoia, but she liked to think that it was a superhuman sense keeping her ready for an akuma attack, even through the night. This attentiveness, however, combined with a severe load of schoolwork and design projects, left Marinette running on very little sleep.

‘Good morning, Marinette!’ Tikki chirped, drawing back the curtains to let in more sunlight.

‘How am I not dead yet?’ She mumbled, poking a tentative foot out of bed as if stepping into icy water. Tikki giggled as her human host slid out from under the duvet with a long groan.

‘Having a miraculous gives you a boost of energy - without it, you’d exhaust yourself too quickly during transformation. Which means you tire less than other people your age!’

‘I still feel like death.’ Marinette grumbled, hiking her nightshirt over her head and tossing it to the floor. Tikki smiled at her sympathetically.

‘Unfortunately, it doesn’t make you immune to the exhaustion of being a teenager.’

‘So I have the power to literally remove evil from someone,’ she started, ‘and yet I get more tired figuring out how the hell footnoting works. Awesome.’

‘You’re a smart girl, Marinette!’ The little fairy tutted as she stepped behind the room divider to dress. ‘Don’t give up so easily!’ Marinette made a strangled noise of opposition.

The sound of footsteps up the stairs caught their attention, and by routine, Tikki zoomed underneath Marinette’s discarded nightshirt to hide. Marinette knew by the time the door swung open that Alya had arrived in her room, always choosing to waltz straight in instead of knocking beforehand.

‘Morning, sunshine!’ She sung from the other side of the divider. ‘Today will be a good day!’

‘Will it?’ Marinette asked pessimistically. ‘You sound so certain.’

‘I’ve decided! Today’s the day!’ She heard Alya stroll across the room and collapse onto her chaise lounge with a small ‘oof’. Meanwhile, Marinette scanned the floor around for underwear, cursing to herself.

‘Alya, could you grab me some underwear from my drawers?’

‘Ugh, effort.’ Her best friend sighed, standing up again. ‘Top left, right? Can I pick one some out for you?’

Marinette shrugged, then foolishly realised that Alya couldn’t see her. ‘If you want.’

‘Fantastic.’ She could hear the smugness in her voice as Alya padded to edge of her bedroom and slid open the drawer. She took her sweet time choosing, providing no hints, before returning to the room divider, her shadow visible behind the screen. She slung a lacy, wine-coloured number over the top, patting one of the cups proudly and smoothing out the matching briefs. Marinette raised her eyebrows.

‘It really is going to be a good day, huh.’

‘Wearing a matching bra and panties gives you ultimate confidence!’

The dark-haired girl rolled her eyes, smiling, and slipped into the Brazilian-cut briefs. She pulled the straps of the bra over her shoulders and settled into the cups, then stepped out from behind the divider. ‘Could you clasp up my bra?’

Alya circled round to her friend’s back to oblige, hooking the clasps together. ‘I’m glad you shaved your legs,’ she mused, eyeing Marinette’s pale calves.

‘You want me to show leg as well?’ Marinette laughed. ‘I’m a girl of tasteful fashion, you know.’

‘Sexy can be tasteful!’ Alya teased, returning to her front so she could admire the lingerie she picked out. ‘Now go put on something cute! You’ve got a big day ahead of ya!’

‘Explain, please?’ Marinette cocked a hip at her with a knowing look, acutely aware of Alya’s deviousness. Instead of giving an answer, Alya steered her to the wardrobe.

‘Outfit first!’

‘Fine,’ Marinette rolled her eyes, peering at her over her shoulder. She looked over Alya’s belted boyfriend jeans and graphic tee, a flannel shirt wrapped around her waist. ‘You look cute today, by the way.’

‘Awe, shucks.’ Alya cooed, striking a few poses. ‘You can thank Nino for it.’

‘I thought I recognised that band tee.’ Marinette smirked. She skimmed over the clothes in her wardrobe thoughtfully, glancing back and forth at her shoe collection, mentally matching each item into an outfit. Alya marvelled at her as she effortlessly partnered a pair of knee-high brown boots with a fuzzy sweater-dress, dusty pink like her bedroom walls.

‘How do you choose so quickly,’ she gaped, ‘give me your designer vision!’

‘And give away my only viable skill? No way.’ Marinette laughed.

‘As if,’ Alya stuck her tongue out at her, picking stray bits of fluff off her friend’s sweater dress, ‘I recall a couple of years ago that Adrien complimented both your baking _and_ your dancing. That makes three viable skills!’

‘Whatever.’ The dark-haired girl laughed and crossed the room to her dressing table. As she begun to rummage for a necklace, her phone buzzed over on her mattress. ‘Can you check what that says?’ She asked Alya, who was already climbing the ladder to her raised bed with a cheery ‘no problem!’

The brunette remained unusually quiet as she collected the phone, leaving Marinette to dabble over her jewellery in silence. Once Alya’s mouth had stayed shut for a record-breaking twenty seconds, Marinette spun round to face her, eyebrows raised as she watched her furiously tap the screen.

‘What are you doing with my phone?’ Marinette asked slowly, reaching out to take it from Alya’s grasp. Alya backed away, still pressing fingers down frantically.

‘Dammit, Marinette, why can’t you get an iPhone like everyone else?’ She wheezed, leaping away as Marinette turned to more forceful tactics, chasing her around the room.

‘Who texted me? Are you replying?!’

Alya ran into the chaise lounge and scrambled to get over it, Marinette now hot on her tail. ‘Not replying!’ She cried, gripping the phone tight as Marinette tried to snatch it back, creating a tug-of-war between their grasps. ‘Deleting!’

Marinette’s eyes widened, shocked and a little outraged at Alya’s audacity. ‘Why? Alya, give me back my phone!’

‘If I could just figure out how the hell to-’

‘ALYA!’

The two made eye contact, both breathing raggedly. Marinette was red in the face with anger; Alya shrivelled under her intense stare.

‘Fine – fine!’ Alya let her snatch back her phone, gasping for air, tone softening. ‘I was only trying to protect you, girl.’

‘Protect me from what?’ Marinette asked incredulously, looking down to read the message.

 

** Luka **

Hey! I’m back in Paris for the summer. Want to meet up? :)

 

It was painful for Alya to watch Marinette visibly falter, her expression fall, her body slump. She watched her reread the text several times, her eyes saddening at each word, her breathing quickening as a sudden air of anxiety swarmed around her. The text reeked of trouble, from Luka’s name right down to the smiley face. Marinette swallowed thickly and turned to Alya.

‘Should I-’

‘No.’ Alya interjected immediately. ‘No way. You are not doing this again – I refuse to let you.’

‘Maybe he just wants to talk?’ She asked uncertainly.

‘That’s what you thought when he wanted to meet up at Christmas. And Easter.’ Alya sighed, wrapping an arm around her friend, who was still staring dead at her phone.

Marinette chewed her lip. She knew Alya was right: any situation involving Luka was going to be a sticky one, no matter how sweetly he complimented her or how gentle he was when they were together. ‘He’s a good guy.’ Marinette started slowly. ‘He doesn’t mean to hurt me. He’s at university now.’

‘Exactly. You listen to me, Marinette.’ Alya pressed two firm hands on her shoulders, willing her to look deep into her eyes. ‘Whether he knows it or not, he’s left you with the short end of the stick. He comes back from university, you meet up and have a wonderful time, he makes you believe you’re going to get back together, and then he runs back to university and doesn’t speak to you for months.’

Marinette pressed her lips together. There was a flash of memories through her head: Luka’s hand in hers as they walked across the Pont des Arts, smiling at each other as he whispered songs into her ear. A series of text messages he never replied to and missed calls he never returned, choosing only to contact her when it was convenient for him. A one step forward, two steps back relationship. It was such an innocent text message – just a greeting and an offer to see each other. But Alya was right: she did have the short end of the stick.

‘What should I say to him?’

‘Tell him you’re busy. Or to leave you the fuck alone. Or don’t reply at all, I don’t care, just don’t meet up with him again.’

Marinette frowned at her phone screen. Then, with a small nod, she slid the mobile into her purse, leaving the message on ‘read’.

‘Proud of you, girl.’ Alya smiled at her warmly, giving her shoulder a squeeze. ‘Don’t you dare let this ruin your day – I’ve got something amazing planned.’

‘What is it?’ Marinette asked softly, a smile returning to her face at Alya’s determined expression. She laced their hands together, leading the dark-haired girl to the door; while she was preoccupied with turning the knob, Tikki flew from her hiding spot into Marinette’s purse, which she had left open and waiting for her.

‘Today will be the day you ask Adrien to the dance.’ Alya winked at her. ‘“Operation Secret Garden” is back in action!’

 

* * *

 

‘Adrien!’ Nino called, waving at his friend as he approached in a sleek, black car, driven as usual by his gorilla-sized bodyguard. Adrien stepped out with a grin, walking over to meet him at the school gates.

‘Morning, Nino.’

‘How’s the heartbreak hangover?’ Nino smirked, flinging an arm round his shoulder and walking him into school. Adrien shrugged with a chuckle.

‘Better, I guess?’

‘What stage are you at?’ Nino asked. ‘Denial, depression, vengeance, or moving on?’

He laughed. ‘I suppose I’m passing from depression into vengeance.’

A look of devious anticipation passed over Nino’s face. ‘Perfect. That means you’re due for a rebound.’

Adrien blinked at him, eyebrows raised as they entered the school grounds and sat down on the nearest empty bench. Nino’s arm round his shoulder was beginning to feel less like a sign of companionship and more like a trap. ‘A rebound?’ He asked.

‘Come on, you’re no stranger!’ Nino laughed. ‘Remember when you got turned down back when you were, like, fourteen? You asked out Kagami instead to help you move on!’

He thought back to Ladybug’s third attempt at rejection a few years back (or was it the fourth? He was beginning to lose count.) He remembered Kagami’s advice to ‘change targets’ and, with Marinette’s help, he’d arranged a date with her at the ice rink. Kagami was nice, to him at least, and minus the akuma attack, the date was okay: she just wasn’t Ladybug. And Ladybug was all he wanted.

‘Yeah, that didn’t work out though.’ Adrien chuckled awkwardly, trying to scoot away from Nino’s firm hold. ‘I don’t know if I should try that again.’

‘Don’t you want to make Layna jealous?’ Nino purred. His friend squinted at him, the name “Layna” confusing him briefly. Then, he remembered that it was merely a pseudonym he’d created for Ladybug in order to preserve her identity.

‘You want me to use someone just to get back at her?’ He asked, eyebrows furrowed. ‘Isn’t that kind of mean?’

‘Oh my god, Adrien.’ Nino gaped. ‘Do you even watch rom-coms?’

‘What?’

‘ _To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before_? _Clueless_? _Love Actually_?!’ Nino gasped, shaking him by the shoulders. ‘Tell me you’ve watched _Love Actually_!’

‘What’s your point?’ The blonde boy managed to peel his friend off his shoulders.

‘The rebound! The second-best love interest! The girl who comes after the divorce!’

Adrien narrowed his eyes. ‘Pretty sure I’m not divorced.’ Nino smacked his hand on his forehead in exasperation.

‘The point is, the main character always falls in love with their rebound. Whether they’re trying to make their first love interest jealous or whether they’re just craving attention, the rebound always comes out on top.’

‘So, what, I ask out someone else and suddenly I’ll be over Lady – uh – Layna?’ Adrien rolled his eyes. ‘That didn’t work the first time.’

‘You weren’t even trying.’ Nino glanced around briefly, eyeing their surroundings for eavesdroppers. Then, he leaned in. ‘Go ask out Marinette.’

There was a pang in Adrien’s chest that felt awfully similar to being shot by Dark Cupid. His jaw dropped and he stared at his best friend with a loss for words, barely able to comprehend his friend’s directions. ‘Marinette?’

‘C’mon, dude! You two have such mad sexual tension that it makes me physically sick.’

‘We do not have _sexual tension._ ’ Adrien mouthed the words as if they were poison on his lips, heat rising to his cheeks. ‘We’re just friends.’

‘Oh, fuck off with that “just friends” bullshit. You have a fat crush on her.’

‘I do not!’ Adrien shouted, a little too loudly, and the students in the hall around them turned to pull faces at him in surprise. Embarrassed, Adrien cleared his throat and lowered his voice to a whisper. ‘I don’t have a crush on Marinette.’

‘Maybe because you’re too attached to this Layna chick to realise it.’ Nino frowned at him. ‘Are you really that oblivious? You look at Marinette like she’s cherry-flavoured candy wrapped up all pretty on a stick. You look at her like she’s the sweetest god-damn thing you’ve ever seen in your life.’

‘She is sweet.’ Adrien said sheepishly. ‘But she’s not-’

‘Fuck Layna, man!’ Nino exclaimed, elbowing him in the ribs. ‘Don’t you want, for the first time, to be treated like a decent human being? To be accepted and not rejected?’

‘Of course I do,’ he replied breathlessly, ‘but I don’t want to get Marinette’s hopes up by asking her out if I don’t like her that way.’

‘I wouldn’t be so sure.’

Nino nodded towards the school’s entrance, and by some perfect coincidence of timing, there was Marinette, Parisian sunlight spotlighting her gracefully. Adrien watched her giggle at something Alya said, her smile small but genuine, eyelids crinkled and cheeks pink with laughter. She walked across the grounds, rose-coloured in her cosy dress, pale thighs and shoulders creeping out from underneath. Adrien didn’t realise he was staring until Nino laughed loudly beside him and said, ‘You’re ridiculous.’

‘What?’ Adrien asked dumbly, still staring as Marinette glowed like a fairy in the sun, one-hundred-percent pretty and soft and pink.

‘You do like her in that way. You just refuse to see it.’ Nino shook his head at him. ‘Think about it – think about the time she kissed you on the cheek a couple years ago. Think about when you guys danced together and you held her close. Would it be so bad to have that with her, all the time?’

Students chattered around them as Adrien considered Nino’s suggestion. The longer he looked at Marinette, the further he strayed from coherent sense. She left him feeling fuzzy and dazed, everything in his vision was foggy except for her silhouette amongst the crowd of teenagers passing by. He watched her eyelashes flutter with each blink she took until large blue eyes met his own, irises deep like tropical water, like an ocean he wanted to dive into. Tilting her head at his stare, she smiled bashfully at him, and Adrien found himself smiling stupidly back.

‘Where should we go?’ Adrien asked Nino.

‘Huh?’

‘Where should we go?’ He repeated.

Nino’s eyebrows furrowed. ‘… To class?’

‘No,’ Adrien started, his gaze with Marinette breaking as Alya pulled her by the arm out of his vision, ‘where should Marinette and I go? If I’m asking her out, I need some kind of location.’

A moment of silence passed between them. Then, Nino’s eyes filled with anticipation and a wide grin sprung on his face. ‘Really? You’re going to do it?!’

Adrien smiled. ‘I think,’ he looked in the direction that Marinette had left, a warmth still hanging in his chest, ‘a different target isn’t such a bad idea.’

‘Oh my God,’ Nino gasped, ‘okay, it’s happening-’ he leapt up and grabbed Adrien by the wrist, pulling him to his feet, ‘everybody stay calm!’ He yelled at innocent onlookers, who shared glances of confusion as Nino became the embodiment of Steve from _The Office._ ‘Stay _fucking calm!_ ’

‘Language, Nino!’ Ms. Mendeliev scolded, shooing away a group of hysterical first years in attempt to protect them from Nino’s colourful curse words. Nino grinned sheepishly and mumbled an apology as he dragged his best friend through hordes of baffled students until they reached Ms Bustier’s classroom.

‘Listen up, Agreste.’ Nino grinned, checking the classroom was empty before pushing the blonde boy inside. Adrien stumbled and steadied himself, a little humiliated at the scene Nino had caused in the corridor; his best friend, however, couldn’t seem to find a fuck to give. He began to draw out an elaborate scene of stick figures on Ms Bustier’s blackboard, labelling names to each badly-drawn person to make his presentation more understandable. ‘Here’s what you’re going to say to her.’

 

* * *

 

 

Marinette wasn’t expecting to see Adrien and Nino pouring over Ms Bustier’s blackboard. Nino was never the kind to put extra effort into schoolwork, and it was a miracle that Adrien had turned up to the classroom on time, let alone earlier than everyone else. Her and Alya watched them with amusement as they muttered amongst themselves, drawing arrows and question marks as they deliberated together. Eventually, Alya smirked.

‘What are you two doing?’ She purred, revelling in their startled expressions. Adrien lurched towards the eraser and swiftly wiped off their detailed diagram as Nino fumbled with excuses, trying to distract her with weak compliments and awkward questions. The girls cocked an eyebrow at each other.

‘Was that some kind of project you two are working on?’ Marinette asked, and she could have sworn she saw Adrien blush for a second or two.

‘Yes! It’s, uh-’ Nino gulped.

‘We were actually working on a choreographed dance for the Summer Ball.’ Adrien said quickly. Nino gaped at him, as if he was unaware of this revelation, and Alya raised an eyebrow at him.

‘Really?’ She asked slowly. ‘What kind of dance?’

‘Actually,’ Adrien’s smile seemed to melt away every inch of suspiciousness, ‘it’s a secret. It’ll be a gift for you, as thanks for being such a great chief organiser.’

Alya blinked at them in surprise, glancing back and forth between the two. ‘Really? For me?’

Nino looked like he was ready to explode, and Adrien’s grin was a little too wide as he nudged him in the ribs. Nino suddenly started nodding furiously, a tight smile on his face.

‘Of course!’ He said through his teeth.

‘Hm…’ Alya smiled. ‘That’s really sweet of you, guys! It better be good!’

‘It will be, ha-ha!’ Adrien laughed weakly as the girls made their way to their seats. Marinette looked over at her friend once they were sat down, eyes narrowed.

‘You believe them?’

‘No way.’ Alya replied, snorting as Adrien and Nino tried to be subtle about their hissed argument. ‘But who cares? Now they have to perform a dance for me at the Summer Ball.’ She unscrewed the cap of her water bottle and took a dainty sip, winking at Marinette. ‘It’s so nice to be appreciated!’

Marinette laughed, and the two simultaneously reached for their phones as they pinged in unison. The “Operation Secret Garden” group chat was coming to life, each of their friends nicknamed a flower just as they had done years in the past. Alix was Violet, Mylène was Sunflower, Rose was Tulip and Juleka was Rose (much to the real Rose’s confusion), and Alya and Marinette had the codenames of Tigerlily and Lotus.

 

** Violet **

are we ready gang? ;)

** Tigerlily **

hell yeah we are! where is everybody????

** Tulip **

On our way, sorry! Juleka and I grabbed breakfast! :^)

** Tigerlily **

woah woah woah

** Tigerlily **

no names in the gc! you will refer to each other by codenames ONLY!!!

** Tulip **

Who am I again?

** Lotus **

You’re tulip :)

** Tulip **

Who’s Juleka?

** Rose **

Rose.

** Tulip **

But I’m Rose?????

**Tigerlily**

we’ve been over this a million times already. your real name is Rose, so your codename has to be something different. hence, Tulip!!

** Violet **

nO nAMeS iN THe GrOUPcHaT!!111!!!!

** Tigerlily **

gah!!!!! D:

** Sunflower **

Remind me again why Lotus can’t just walk up to Buttercup and ask him out?

** Tigerlily **

because, Sunflower

** Tigerlily **

Lotus is a flaming chicken

** Lotus **

D:

** Violet **

yall better get your asses to class soon because if we’re caught with our phones out we’ll all get detention, and that will ruin our nearly flawless plan

** Tigerlily **

that’s why we have a plan B

** Lotus **

What’s our plan B?

** Tigerlily **

we throw you at Buttercup and hope that you’ll start making out :)

** Violet **

saucy ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

** Rose **

Gross, miss me with that hetero shit

** Sunflower **

Ms Bustier is coming!!

** Tigerlily **

PLACES, PEOPLE! REMEMBER THE PLAN!!!

 

The remainder of the lesson was tense as the friends sat in stiff anticipation, waiting for class to end so their plan could commence. Ms Bustier had seemed confused when some of her best students were too preoccupied to answer her questions, but, luckily, she brushed over it and moved on. Marinette’s stare was locked on the back of Adrien’s head, her chin in her palm, a dazed smile on her face. It was then that she saw a tiny insect, a ladybug, of all things, flutter across the classroom to perch on Adrien’s blonde hair.

 _The universe is really taking the piss out of me._ Marinette grimaced, watching as the bug crept up the back of his head. Daring herself to make a move, she slowly leaned forward with her arm stretched out. Adrien jumped when her fingers brushed against his scalp, and Marinette tried not to be swayed by how silky his hair was. He watched with a foreign intensity as she nudged the ladybug onto the tip of her finger and lifted it off his head: she could almost feel it’s positive energy radiating on her skin, as if smiling at her, winking at her, connecting over the ladybug spirit hiding in her purse. Marinette looked up from her finger, meeting eyes with Adrien, who had turned back to look at her. The dark-haired girl gulped, then willed herself to smile at him. Adrien’s eyes widened a little – then, he smiled back.

‘Adrien, eyes forward, please.’ Ms Bustier said, and the blonde boy’s head snapped back towards his teacher.

‘Sorry.’ He said bashfully, and Marinette wanted to melt.

The class dragged on, filled with Shakespeare and Jane Austen and Victor Hugo. The atmosphere was thick with tension as the group of girls watched the final seconds of class tick by on the clock above the blackboard, biting their lips and tapping their feet. When the bell rung, Alix jumped to her feet.

‘Oh my God, everyone! Ladybug and Chat Noir are on the school roof!’ She exclaimed, and the class buzzed with excitement.

‘They’re here? Are they patrolling?’

‘What if there’s an akuma?!’

‘This way, everyone!’ Alya shouted, as the girls made exaggerated gestures to the door and bolted from the classroom, Alix in the lead. The students filed out followed by a dazed Ms Bustier, and amongst the commotion, Juleka slipped to the teacher’s desk and slid open one of the drawers. She maintained a monotone expression as she stole the key to the classroom and walked out with it, Alya racing after her with Nino by the hand. Adrien, who wasn’t so easily tricked by the bait, furrowed his eyebrows as the room emptied.

‘Chat Noir and Ladybug aren’t actually here, are they?’ He asked, turning to face the only person left in the room – Marinette.

‘Aha, probably not.’ She smiled awkwardly, anxiety rippling up her spine as she heard Juleka lock the door behind her. ‘Fake sightings spread so quickly on social media.’

‘Tell me about it.’ Adrien chuckled, crossing over to the door. He turned the knob and pushed, expecting the door to swing open; when it didn’t, he blinked in conclusion, pushing the door harder. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Uh-’

Adrien turned to face her, eyes wide. ‘Marinette – we’ve been locked in.’

The anxiety swelled again, her pulse drumming loud in her ears. ‘Oh, God.’ She breathed, her nervousness coming across as an impressive act of shock. Adrien glanced over her trembling lower lip and walked over to her swiftly.

‘Hey, don’t worry! It’s probably just someone pranking us.’ He smiled awkwardly, shooting a glare towards Nino on the other side of the door as if he were the culprit. Being locked in a classroom with Marinette was definitely not part of the plan. When Nino shook his head violently at him with a flabbergasted expression, Adrien’s jaw dropped. ‘You didn’t do this?!’ He called to Nino through the door, and Marinette’s eyebrows raised.

‘Why would Nino plan this?’ She asked, completely aware of who was truly behind the situation (including herself.)

‘Uh, no reason.’ Adrien laughed, teeth clenched together. ‘You know Nino, always a prankster!’

Marinette giggled uncertainly. She made eye contact with Alya through the door, who was furiously mouthing ‘do it!’ over and over until the words became almost unreadable. Marinette took a long, shaky breath, and took a brave step towards her crush.

‘Adrien?’

He blinked down at her, their faces close together. Marinette was suddenly electrocuted with a flashback: standing in the rain, an umbrella between them, Adrien smiling down at her with raindrops on his hair and eyelashes. The memory made her brain blur, and she stammered with words that came out as mere sounds, sentences that made no sense.

‘Adrien – you – me – we, uh…’

‘We, what?’ He tilted his head at her.

‘I-I mean! Ball!’

‘Ball?’ He furrowed his eyebrows.

‘Ball – go – please!’ She gasped, her mind screaming at her. _You sound like a dog, for God’s sake!_

Adrien frowned at her. ‘Sorry,’ he began, his tone polite, ‘I don’t understand?’

Marinette’s lip was trembling uncontrollably now, and she took a deep breath.

‘Say it!’ Alya mouthed at her through the door.

Adrien’s eyes were so kind, so warm. She was being pulled into his gaze until she was breathless, speechless, the invitation to the Summer Ball she’d rehearsed in her head had mashed together into a mess.

_She could do it._

Another flashback, outside The Louvre, watching Adrien speak to Kagami about her with a sweet, sweet smile on his face.

‘Marinette’s just a friend!’

_She couldn’t do it._

She let out a long sigh, wanting to curl up and weep in embarrassment. It was years ago that he’d said that, but the words rung so loudly inside of her that she couldn’t think of anything else. Weakly, and apologetically, she smiled at Adrien.

‘It doesn’t matter.’

Adrien blinked at her. Then, he smiled that innocent smile.

‘If you say so.’

She could see Alya screaming at her through the window in the door, and Marinette felt defeated and ashamed. Hurriedly, she scooped up her books into her arms and turned to flee the classroom, head down, tears threatening to spill over her lower eyelids. Her lack of coordination sent her smacking into Adrien’s chest, books falling to the floor with a thunk. They passed on quick apologies and bent down in unison, heads banging together as they made a grab for the same book.

‘Sorry!’ They said again.

Adrien retrieved the books from the floor, careful not to bump into her a second time. Their hands brushed briefly as he gave her the textbooks. She gripped them shakily, and went to stand up; Adrien, who had seen the perfect opportunity, decided to stop her.

‘Hey, Marinette?’ He asked quickly, before she could rise to a stand.

They stared at each other, still kneeling on the floor. There was something about the look on Adrien’s face - shyness, maybe - that squashed Marinette’s instinct to bolt away and kick the door down until she could escape. Marinette held the books close to her chest as Adrien rested his hands on his thighs, a sheepish half-smile on his lips.

 _Be cool,_ Nino had told him as they formulated their plan, _don’t go overboard – nothing super romantic or cheesy. Just be nice and calm._

‘Are you free this weekend?’ He asked.

Marinette blinked at him. ‘What?’

‘I was just wondering if you were free to go on a date.’ He paused. ‘With me.’

Silence filled the room. Alya gawked at them from outside.

‘What the fuck?’ She mouthed, and Nino grinned.

‘D-date? With you?’

Panic flooded Adrien’s face. ‘Oh – you don’t have to! I just thought-’

‘I want to!’ She gasped, dizzying as Adrien lit up at her response. ‘Date. This weekend. Sounds…’ She gave him a wobbly smile. ‘S-Sounds amazing.’

‘Great!’ Adrien beamed at her, cheeks pink, teeth pearly white and mouth turned upwards. He stood, leaving the dark-haired girl kneeling on the floor, overwhelmed with shock and racing with delight. It took a moment of composing herself to realise that his hand was outstretched for her, ready to take hers.

‘I’ll drop by the bakery on Saturday? We can go round the city or see a movie – it’s up to you.’

His smile was blinding. She took his hand, heat spreading through her as he lifted her to her feet, their fingers laced together.

‘Sounds good.’ She swallowed, stuck in his emerald gaze.

‘Awesome. I’ll text you, okay?’ Giving her hand a final squeeze, he released her, and made his way to the door. By some kind of miracle (Juleka with the classroom key) the door was unlocked, and Adrien shot her a fingergun that could almost be deemed as flirtatious. Marinette was left a cherry-red shaking mess, and Alya flew into the room to tackle her into a hug.

‘You’re going on a date with Adrien, girl!’ She screamed, and the two squealed and held each other, laughing gleefully.

Adrien managed to maintain his composure as he walked through the corridor, past his staring classmates, down the stairs, and into the empty locker room. It was then he could slump down against the wall, face in his hands as his skin burned relentlessly, heart pounding in his chest. Plagg flew out from his satchel, a slice of camembert in his little paws, antennas pricked up in amusement.

‘Didn’t I tell you years ago that you were going after Marinette?’ He said, and Adrien swatted at him playfully.

‘Shut up,’ He retaliated with a small smile, ‘you’re too smug for your own good.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the support <3


	4. 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm proud to say that each chapter is now fully planned! Unless I make any last minute changes, this fanfiction will be 20 chapters long (with maybe an epilogue or two!)
> 
> It will get dramatic. Dun dun dun!
> 
> Enjoy this chapter, even though it's a little on the short side <3

Rasping and huffing for breath, Ladybug swung from rooftop to rooftop, rushing past windows framing family dinners and studying teenagers, toddlers and babies curled up in their cribs. The moon hung high in the night sky, glistening and silver, sending ripples of shimmering light that bounced off the chimneys across the skyline of Paris. The message from Chat had been blunt, a simple request to meet him at their usual spot in the bell tower of Notre Dame. His lack of unnecessary detail, puns, or flirtation had been frightening. Marinette tried to ease herself from paranoia as she launched herself through the rose window.

Surely, there was an explanation for Chat’s behaviour. He was probably still touchy from her rejection – they hadn’t spoken since, after all.

He was there when she came in, cross-legged on the floor, looking nervous. When he saw her, his eyes warmed, and a smile flowered on his face. ‘ _Bonsoir_ , my lady.’

‘Chat, is everything okay?’ She asked gently, crouching down to her knees to meet his level. ‘I thought by there might have been an akuma attack.’

‘Unfortunately, it’s just me.’ He smiled that sad smile again, and Ladybug frowned at him, guilt surging in her chest.

‘Don’t be like that, Chaton.’ She murmured, settling down opposite him. ‘I’m always happy to see my favourite mangy stray.’

The black cat chuckled at that, the conflict in his expression fading momentarily. ‘I just wanted to give you a… disclaimer.’

Ladybug raised her eyebrows. ‘A disclaimer?’ Chat Noir hummed and brought his knees to his chest. ‘Okay. About what?’

He seemed to consider his next words carefully, chewing on his lip and clucking his tongue. Then, he exhaled, and spewed out a rapid string of sentences that Ladybug could hardly keep up with. ‘You know how I felt about you – uh, not that I still don’t want to be with you – you know that you’re the only one for me, Buginette! Well, one of two, now – I mean – you’re not replaceable, by any means! And I know it’s a little bit fast to be jumping into rebounds – is it technically a rebound if you kind of, sort of had a crush on them beforehand anyway? Agh – what I mean is-!’

‘Chat,’ Ladybug narrowed her eyes at him, head tilted, ‘what’s going on?’

For the second time, Chat sighed. ‘I, uh… I did what you said.’

Ladybug gave him a questioning look. He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

‘I asked a girl out. As in, a girl that isn’t you.’

Ladybug’s eyebrows shot up behind her fringe, irises shrinking to pinpricks in pure amazement, jaw falling flat downward. In all honesty, Chat had taken so long to treat her rejections seriously that this new revelation had shocked her viciously. Chat Noir, who had fawned over her for years, had turned his gaze to someone else.

There was a silence as she tried to decide how to feel. Shocked? Jealous? Relieved? She appreciated that he was finally considering her feelings on their relationship, and she was extremely proud of him for bagging a girl in the first place. It made her laugh, picturing civilian Chat Noir throwing pickup lines at an unsuspecting woman, dancing around her with roses and kissing her hand with a gentlemanly bow. Despite this, there was a small part of her that felt a little sad: his constant proclamations of love exhausted her, sure, but he truly wanted to be with her. He wanted above all to protect her, to treat her like a queen. It was a shame that she couldn’t grant that wish for him.

Chat Noir with another girl… someone that could finally make him happy, like she couldn’t.

Ladybug beamed at him. ‘Chat, I am so, so happy for you!’

‘Really?’ He grinned sheepishly at her. ‘You’ve gotta give me credit, Buginette, it took a lot of willpower to get over the spots.’

‘Oh, shut up!’ She sat cross-legged in front of him and scooted closer, resting her chin in her her hands. ‘So, tell me all about this girl! Who approached who? What’s she like? Does she like you? Is she cute?’ She waggled her eyebrows at him, and Chat laughed.

‘Not gonna lie, she’s pretty cute. I definitely have a type when it comes to appearance.’

Ladybug tilted her head. ‘What’s that?’

He smirked. ‘Dark hair and blue eyes.’

Ladybug scoffed at him and folded her arms, irritated at the light blush that warmed her face. ‘If you’re just chasing a Ladybug doppelganger-’

Cackling, Chat clasped his hands behind his head. ‘God, no. She’s a lot nicer to me than Ladybug is.’

Rolling her eyes, Ladybug jabbed him in the forehead, between his eyebrows, and laughed when he feigned falling backwards as if she had punched him. ‘See what I mean?’ He mock-gasped. ‘The abuse I put up with!’

Ladybug smirked. ‘Guess I’ll be in trouble with the _Cats Protection Agency_.’

‘Does that mean I’ll finally find a loving home?’

‘It means you can get neutered for free, as well.’

Chat gave her a look. ‘Great, thanks. Just when I finally might have had the chance to use it.’

Ladybug shrieked with laughter, collapsing onto her back. ‘What a lucky girl she’ll be!’

‘Do I detect sarcasm? I’ll have you know that I’m purr-fectly irresistible!’

‘As if.’ Ladybug stuck her tongue out at him. They smiled at each other, and Ladybug flourished at the warmth that had been restored between them. The atmosphere was a little awkward, as Chat wobbled through automatic flirtations that had to be quenched considering his new love interest; his new bashfulness was cute, even cuter that he wanted to be open with his partner about it. The girl he liked truly was lucky to have him.

Maybe as lucky as she was to have Adrien.

‘You know,’ she started, ‘I’m glad you wanted to tell me about this, but you don’t need my permission. To go on dates and ask girls out, I mean.’

‘I know.’ Chat rested his chin on his knees. ‘I just wanted you to know that I get it. I get that our personal lives need to be separate, and I get that you’re not interested in me that way. I mean, it hurt a little at first, but…’ He shrugged. ‘I’m sevente – I mean – nearly an adult. I need to learn how to take no for an answer.’

Ladybug frowned. ‘Chat, I’m really sorry if I hurt you.’

‘It’s okay.’ He smiled at her, genuinely. ‘Your opinion is just as important as mine. I should have given it more thought.’

She wanted to hug him, to thank him for caring so much. However, the urge was short-lived: the moon suddenly clouded over, stripping light from their rooftop view of France’s capital city. Each alley, road, and building, woven together like puzzle pieces, became swarmed with a thick mist, dulling the streetlamps that provided small sanctuaries of yellow glow. They stood quickly as the city faded into blackness, as if it had been blanketed by a dark cloud. Paris was now a shadowy maze.

Ladybug stumbled and gripped the edge of the rose window, reaching out to find her partner in the dark.

‘Chat, your night vision-’

‘No help,’ he said grimly, ‘I can see in the dark, but not through this mist. Especially when it’s as thick as it is now.’ Ladybug fumbled with her hand against the wall until she found him, then grabbed his forearm for support. He stepped closer to her, and she heard him draw his baton in defence. ‘What’s going on?’ He asked.

‘I don’t know a lot about geography, but somehow I can’t see a scientific explanation for a weather change like this. It must be an akuma.’

‘You mean like Stormy Weather?’ Chat asked. ‘How are we supposed to find it like this?’

‘Hawkmoth must really be upping his game.’

Ladybug squinted in the dark, praying that her eyes would adjust to their new surroundings. ‘I should use my lucky charm,’ she said, reaching for her yoyo.

‘Wait,’ Chat breathed, and pushed them back into the cathedral. She nearly fell in the darkness, but Chat gripped her tight, and rolled her round the window to push her up against the wall. Ladybug supressed a squeak as her back hit the cold stone, her first instinct to kick him off her; but she could feel his heartbeat underneath her hand and the panic in his grip, so she kept quiet. He had her caged away from sight, despite that it was too dark for anyone to see her anyway, and he was pressed so close to her that she grew fearful of what he was protecting her from. She couldn’t hear or see anything threatening – there wasn’t even a gut feeling of danger in her stomach. Eventually, Chat gulped, his mouth against her ear.

‘Volpina.’ He whispered.

‘What?’ She gasped. ‘But we haven’t seen her since-’

‘I know.’

He sounded scared. It made her nervous.

‘Surely not.’ Ladybug murmured, stroking his arm in attempt to calm him. ‘It’s probably just a normal akuma.’

‘No, Ladybug.’ He paused. ‘I could… sense her.’

Ladybug furrowed her eyebrows. ‘You think you sensed Volpina? Wandering around the rooftops of Paris?’

‘I know I did!’ Chat hissed, releasing her from his hold. ‘I swear, it was her. It was like I could feel her – through the walls.’

‘I couldn’t feel her.’ Ladybug frowned.

‘Maybe I’m getting a new ability or something. Plagg said that maybe-’

‘Chat, Volpina doesn’t have the power to send mist across the whole city.’

‘No…’ Chat Noir’s tone shifted, realisation viscous on his tongue. ‘But she can make us think she can.’

Ladybug heard him draw his metal baton like a sword and extend it to a length she couldn’t see. His footsteps passed her, towards the window, and then he swung the weapon swiftly, swatting at the mist that clouded the city. The fog dissipated, the light reappeared, the moon was suddenly unclouded. It was like he’d merely flicked away a layer of dust, like the fog had never existed in the first place. Ladybug gawked at the apparent fineness of the city, no disturbance to be seen, certainly no akuma attack. She swallowed thickly as realisation dawned on her.

‘A mirage.’

‘She was distracting us.’ Chat’s expression was pained. ‘So she could get up to no good in the dark.’

‘Shit,’ Ladybug breathed, ‘shit, shit – shit!’

She flounced away from the window, pacing back and forth, hands in her hair. They hadn’t seen Volpina in years, not since she aided Hawkmoth in the battle to steal the miraculous. To come back now, of all times, was a clear sign that something big was about to happen.

Something they desperately needed to prepare for.

‘So, let me get this straight.’ Ladybug said, pacing faster. ‘You have a new power that gives you… spidey sense.’

‘I guess so.’ Despite the situation, Chat smirked. ‘Cool.’

‘You literally felt Volpina snooping around through the walls. Then, lo and behold, you prove that we were tricked by one of her illusions.’

‘I’m having a pretty great day for superhero stuff, huh?’

‘Chat, Volpina is a fake miraculous holder created by Hawkmoth’s akumatisation. If she’s around, it means they’re working together again.’ She spun on her heels and came to a halt, passing her partner a direct look. ‘They’re planning something.’

The tip of Chat’s mask pinched downwards as he furrowed his eyebrows. He retracted his baton and sheathed it, expression thoughtful as she returned to the window to stand with him. They watched over the streets of Paris in search of a familiar orange figure – no matter how hard they looked, she was nowhere to be seen. ‘What do we do?’ Chat asked.

‘We need help, that’s for sure.’ Ladybug frowned at the calmness of the city and adjusted her yoyo on her hip. ‘For now, we should change back. We’ll be safer if we go incognito for a while.’

‘Y’know, there are politer ways to ask for me to get naked.’ Chat joked helplessly. Ladybug punched him in the shoulder.

‘Just go home for the night, and make sure to message me once you arrive safely. If you sense her again, let me know. Immediately.’

‘Will do, my lady.’ Chat bowed to her, as routine, and stepped to the edge of the building. ‘I’ll ask Plagg about this new ability and let you know the details. If I’m getting new powers, you probably will as well – maybe you’ll sprout wings or something.’ He winked, held up a two-finger salute, and hopped off the edge of the cathedral, using his baton to swing across each rooftop. Ladybug lifted her fingers to her earlobes and toyed with her earrings nervously. Then, she cast out her yoyo and lowered herself to the ground. She spent the next few minutes searching for a discreet place to change back, mind racing with the threat of Volpina’s return.

Once she’d found an alleyway that was shielded by a civilian’s string of hung laundry, Ladybug transformed back into Marinette, met by her little kwami dissipating from her miraculous. ‘You should pay a visit to Master Fu, Marinette.’ She warned as her human host crept back to the bakery, unlocking the front door with the spare key under the doormat. ‘He’ll know what to do.’

‘Good plan, Tikki.’ She whispered, tiptoeing up the stairs, avoiding every creaky floorboard flawlessly with years of experience sneaking around. ‘I hate not knowing what we’re up against.’

‘Everything will be okay.’ Tikki consoled, nuzzling into the teenaged girl’s cheek as she successfully reached her bedroom without a stir from her parents. ‘Good always prevails in the end. The miraculous weren’t built to be used for evil, after all.’

Changing into a pair of cosy pyjamas, Marinette crawled into bed and sent a quick message to Chat Noir. He replied with a brief affirmation of his safe return home, and Marinette sighed with relief.

‘I hate to think that Volpina’s back out there, skulking around. If something bad happened, if Adrien got involved-’

‘You’re overthinking it.’ Tikki placed a light kiss on her forehead and tucked her into bed, pulling the blankets easily over her shoulders despite her tiny size. ‘Everyone will be okay, your friends, family, Adrien – so long as you have your power to restore balance, any damage they’re put through will be reversed.’

‘Tikki…’ Marinette said slowly. ‘If someone got hurt, like, really hurt, in an akuma attack… Would my lucky charm be able to-?’

‘Most of the time, yes.’ Tikki answered, expecting to be asked that question. ‘So long as the damage was dealt through the power of a miraculous holder, your lucky charm can reverse it almost completely.’

‘That’s a lot of power.’ Marinette breathed.

‘It doesn’t come without risks.’ Tikki replied. ‘And it won’t heal everything. People can be left with scrapes and bruises, even scars – you know that from experience.’ Tikki gestured to the yellowing bruises on her arms from the akuma the previous week; slowly healing, but still present. Marinette’s eyes glazed over them as she considered her next question.

‘If… if someone died-’

‘Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.’ Tikki said seriously.

‘But if it happened,’ Marinette pressed, ‘could I save them?’

There was a moment of silence. Tikki let out a small sigh. ‘It depends. If they were killed by the power of a miraculous, then yes, you can revive them. You brought Chat back all those years ago, remember? When Timebreaker fazed him out of existence.’

‘So, if someone was killed by an akuma, or even by Chat’s cataclysm, I could resurrect them?’

‘Yes. It takes an extremely strong lucky charm to do so, but you have the power in you to pull it off.’ Tikki hesitated, antennas flattening. ‘But, if their death wasn’t caused by a miraculous-fuelled power – by a regular weapon, for example, a hand-to-hand fight, or an accident…’

Eerie silence returned. Marinette gulped.

‘So, if we were in a hand-to-hand fight with Hawkmoth, like we were those years ago.’ Marinette gulped. ‘If Hawkmoth killed someone without using an akuma…’

‘You wouldn’t be able to save them.’ Tikki affirmed.

‘Holy shit.’ Marinette curled up under the covers, trembling. ‘This is so much scarier than it was when I was thirteen.’

‘You’re stronger now.’ Tikki smiled at her confidently. ‘I believe you’ll be victorious. Just remember to stand your ground and not let emotions get the best of you. Have courage in yourself, and your lucky charm will bring them back.’

‘I’ll try. I promise to try.’ Marinette murmured, just as her phone vibrated under her pillow. Sliding a shaking hand underneath to retrieve it, she checked her phone screen.

 

** Adrien **

Are you up?

 

Marinette’s eyes widened, and she pulled the phone closer to check her eyes weren’t deceiving her. Adrien barely ever texted her; they talked on their group chat with Nino and Alya occasionally, but otherwise they’d only ever communicated at school together. Sure, Adrien said he would text her about their date, but that wasn’t until this weekend.

‘“Are you up?”’ Marinette read. ‘What does that mean?’

‘That he’s checking if you’re awake?’ Tikki giggled, snuggling up to her shoulder with a sweet little yawn. ‘Reply to him, maybe it’s important.’

Biting her lip, the dark-haired girl typed a giddy response. She hoped that her message would come across as witty and sarcastic.

 

** Marinette **

Unfortunately, yes

 

A mere second or so later, she worried that she sounded too blunt, so sent another message.

 

** Marinette **

What’s up? :)

** Adrien **

Did you see that mist stuff earlier?

 

Marinette gasped: she thought that the mirage was only intended for Ladybug and Chat Noir; there wasn’t time to consider if it could be seen by civilians as well. Raking her brain for a response that didn’t sound suspicious, she settled with an agreement.

 

** Marinette **

Yeah, that was weird. Why?

** Adrien **

No reason, I just got worried that there was an akuma attack.

** Adrien **

I wanted to make sure you were okay

 

Heat shot through Marinette’s chest at his concern. Adrien Agreste, the subject of her fantasies since she was twelve, was worried about her. _Her._ Not Chloe, not Lila, not Kagami – he was worried about Marinette Dupain-Cheng. And despite that she was not as jealous nor proud as she was when she was a preteen, Marinette felt undeniably smug. Adrien was casting those adorable feelings of his to her, after years of yearning for it. Buzzing with flustered happiness, Marinette rolled onto her back and smiled at her screen as if Adrien himself was looking through it.

 

** Marinette **

That’s really sweet of you :)

** Marinette **

I’m okay. Whatever that mist was, it went away quickly - guess Ladybug and Chat Noir managed to fix it

** Adrien **

It sure was one heck of a genjutsu ;)

 

Marinette scoffed and typed out a new message.

 

** Marinette **

Go to sleep, weeb <3

 

Her fingers hovered over the send button, feeling nervous and stupid for adding a heart emoji. _He’ll think I’m cringey for sure_ , she thought, as she finally sent the text. Expecting an awkward silence, Marinette was surprised when Adrien’s reply was quick.

 

** Adrien **

As you wish, princess :)

 

Marinette felt like she was going to die. By drowning. In Adrien. A slow, beautiful, death.

Melting into her mattress, she cradled her phone close to her, blushing furiously and smiling like a fool. ‘Princess,’ she cooed to herself, and supressed her hysterical giggles by pushing her face into the pillow.

She didn’t even consider the familiarity of the nickname as she drifted into slumber.


	5. 5

‘Stupid, stupid Adrien!’ Adrien cursed, throwing his phone with a smack into his pillow.

‘What’s the big deal?’ Plagg yawned, chewing on a slice of camembert as he perched on the end of his bed. ‘You called her a sappy petname. She’s probably swooning.’

‘I called her Chat’s petname!’ Adrien moaned, sinking under the covers in embarrassment. ‘She’s going to be suspicious – I’ve called her princess a million and one times in suit, she’s gonna piece together that I’m Chat Noir!’ Wailing melodramatically, the blonde boy rolled out of bed, face first into the wall.

‘So what?’ Plagg hovered over to him, unimpressed. ‘Of all people to trust with your identity, why not your girlfriend?’

Muffled, mouth mushed against a Jagged Stone poster, came Adrien’s pathetic response. ‘She’s not my girlfriend. And Ladybug said-’

‘Yeah, yeah.’ Plagg rolled his eyes. ‘Keep your identity a secret, blah-blah-blah. Tikki’s tactics never change.’ He squinted at his human host, crushed against his bedroom wall. ‘… Aren’t you going to be late?’

‘For what?’

‘School.’

‘What time is it?’

‘Eight.’

‘IN THE MORNING?!’ Adrien screeched, pushing himself off the wall. ‘Plagg, I haven’t slept! Like, at all!’

‘Guess we’re stopping for redbull again.’ Plagg’s mercilessness shot through him like a spear.

‘No way.’ Adrien muttered, heaving himself off the ground. ‘I should tell Nathalie I’m sick and catch up on sleep.’

‘No, you shouldn’t.’

‘What – why not?’

‘Because today’s the charity sports event, and you don’t want to Miss Bluebell-Eyes in gym shorts.’

Adrien narrowed his eyes at his kwami. ‘…That’s not true.’

‘Then why are you getting dressed?’

‘I’m not.’ Adrien lied, suddenly pulling on a clean shirt. ‘I’m just freshening up.’

‘You’re freshening up to go back to sleep.’ Plagg said slowly.

Halfway into a pair of jeans, with only one sock on, leg extended high, Adrien hobbled across the room on one foot. ‘… Yes.’

For the second time, Plagg rolled his eyes. ‘Teenagers.’

‘Hey, I’ll have you know that I made this choice by myself!’ Adrien scrambled for a matching sock, hair standing up at odd angles. ‘If I missed a day of school, I’d have far too much work to catch up on. And I can’t just miss a charity event!’ He laughed with an exaggerated look of innocence, sweat beading on his forehead. ‘My decision has nothing to do with-’

‘The legs of Marinette Dupain-Cheng?’

Plagg dodged the sneaker that was thrown at him.

‘Clearly.’ The cat kwami muttered.

‘Y’know, I have some particularly expensive camembert that I was saving for a special occasion.’ Adrien held his comb in between his teeth while he tied his shoelaces. ‘If you would maybe, _shut up,_ I could give it to you today.’

‘I want it on its own, kept separately, not in a sandwich on anything – and I want the whole wheel. Then I might _consider_ staying quiet about your perverted inhibitions.’

‘I’m not a pervert!’ Adrien yelled, just as Nathalie entered without knocking. Plagg darted into his schoolbag, leaving the young man alone, and seemingly, arguing with himself about his sinful inhibitions. Nathalie gave him an unamused glare.

‘The car is ready for you, Adrien.’

He cleared his throat, red in the face. ‘Uh – of course – thank you.’ Grabbing his satchel (and scowling at it for a solid few seconds) Adrien whisked himself out the room, refusing to meet his secretary in the eyes.

 

* * *

 

 

Marinette was pretty in gym shorts, Adrien noted, watching her with his chin in his hands as she stretched on the racetrack.

‘You’re drooling.’ Nino smirked.

‘Speak for yourself.’ Adrien laughed, slapping him with the towel he had round his neck.

‘We’ve been dating for three years, pretty sure I’m allowed.’ Nino stuck out his tongue at his best friend and returned to smiling dozily at Alya, who was pulling her long hair back into a high ponytail.

‘How many dates does it take before I’m allowed to drool over Marinette?’

‘Three’s the magic number.’ Nino folded his arms behind his head. ‘You have to be completely gentlemanly on the first date, you have to kiss on the second, and _then_ you can get a little spicy on the third.’

Adrien raised his eyebrows. ‘And that’s the standard rule of dating?’

‘It’s the guy code, dude.’

‘Seems to be a toxic reinforcement of masculine ideals.’ Adrien mused.

‘Someone’s been spending too much time on Tumblr.’ Nino snorted, standing up. ‘I’m gonna go wish my girl good luck – you should, too, considering she’s gonna knock Marinette into the dust.’

‘Don’t get competitive with me, Lahiffe.’ The blonde boy laughed, walking with him down to the athletics course. ‘Alya’s not that fast.’

‘I’ve seen her run for a superhero scoop. In stilettos.’

‘Oh yeah?’ Adrien grinned. ‘Then let’s make a deal – I bet Marinette can beat Alya in the race. Whoever ends up right gets to pick the song we dance to at the Summer Ball.’

‘You’re on!’

They clapped hands together to strike their deal, then Nino bolted to his girlfriend, assumingly to give her a pep talk. Adrien shook his head with a smile, then made his way over to Marinette. She looked up from her calf stretches to wave at him, a pink tinge on her face.

‘Good morning, Adrien.’ She said shyly. She looked up to smile at him, but her expression fell quickly into a look of concern as she scanned over his dark eyebags and abnormally un-perfect hair. ‘Wow, you look like death. Are you okay?’

‘Thanks.’ He chuckled, and Marinette jumped up.

‘I didn’t mean – you just look tired is all!’ She babbled with stammering apologies, and Adrien couldn’t help but beam at her with affection. ‘You look great, as usual. Promise.’

‘Why thank you, Marinette.’ He chirped, eyes tracing the straps of her sports bra. The brand name _Agreste_ was printed in white across the seams, and Adrien grinned at her. ‘You’re wearing my sports bra!’

She blinked at him, taken aback, and Adrien realised his mistake. He cleared his throat and shook his hands at her. ‘Uh – I don’t mean, _my_ sports bra, per say-’ he chuckled nervously, ‘what I meant was…’

Marinette giggled at him. ‘Yes, it’s an _Agreste_ piece. Thank you for noticing, your father is my favourite designer.’

Adrien filed that knowledge away for later purposes, deeming it useful. ‘No problem.’

Their difficulty with language around each other was getting ridiculous. Alya and Nino were right to be exasperated, Adrien thought, before remembering his bet with latter. Immediately, he grabbed Marinette by the shoulders.

‘I need you to do something.’

Marinette squeaked at his sudden contact, cheeks reddening, eyes locked into his. ‘Anything.’ She said dreamily, unable to stop herself, before choking with embarrassment. Adrien smirked at her.

‘Beat Alya.’

Her eyes widened. ‘W-What?’

‘In the race!’ Adrien explained quickly. ‘Me and Nino have this deal, and… I know you’re faster than her. I’ve seen how fast you run when you’re late for something.’

Marinette pouted. ‘You’re setting me up against my best friend?’

‘For the greater good!’ Adrien reasoned. ‘If you win, I get to pick the song we dance to at the Summer Ball. The one we’re doing for Alya.’

‘Oh, really?’ Marinette cocked an eyebrow. ‘I’m listening.’

‘If I win, I’m picking a K-pop song.’

The interest in Marinette’s expression dissipated. ‘Really?’

‘Really.’

‘You’re a koreaboo as well as a weeb? I expected better of you.’

‘Hey!’ Adrien whined, pursing his lips as Marinette cackled at him. ‘C’mon, think about it! Nino being forced to do a cheesy K-pop choreography. It’ll be comedy gold!’

‘Hm… alright, you’ve sold me.’

‘Awesome!’

‘On one condition.’

‘Aw, c’mon!’

Marinette folded her arms, looking at him with a cocky smile. ‘I want to make a bet, too.’

‘Oh, no.’ Adrien gulped. ‘I don’t like that look.’

‘If you lose your race,’ she tapped a finger on her lower lip thoughtfully, considering, ‘you have to get more sleep. You’ll go to bed at nine, every night.’

‘Impossible!’ Adrien gasped. ‘When else am I supposed to watch Voltron?!’

‘Every night.’ Marinette repeated, firmly.

‘Fine.’ Adrien scoffed, folding his arms. ‘Those are unfair chances, though. I have to go up against _Kim._ ’

‘Guess it’ll be early nights for you from now on, then.’ She sung.

‘But if I win,’ Adrien started slowly, ‘I want something from you.’

‘As if you’ll come close.’ Marinette winked at him, and with a wave, turned on her heel to jog towards the racetrack. Adrien shrivelled, watching her raven hair dance behind her as she stepped up towards the starting line, a hint of smugness in her innocent smile. He sighed helplessly and fell back into a seat on the bleachers, right next to Nino, who was yelling encouragements at Alya from across the field.

‘GET THEM ALYA! LEAVE THEM IN THE DUST!’

Alya looked severely unimpressed.

Adrien passed one final glance at Marinette. She was settling into a kneeling position and securing the bun atop her head, readying herself to run. As the countdown began, they met eyes.

She nodded at him.

The gun sounded, and they leapt up into a sprint. Little Rose lagged behind, more skipping than running, a cheerful expression on her face despite being in last place. Alix, determined, but slower without their skates, was just ahead. Next was Sabrina and Juleka, the tallest in their class, but a good few feet behind Alya.

Nino was right: Alya was fast.

But none of them were as fast as Marinette.

Nino’s cheers faltered as the boys gawked at the dark-haired girl in the lead. They all knew Marinette was academic; she’d been class president ever since they could remember. But athletic? She couldn’t stay balanced to save her life. Adrien grinned and jumped to his feet.

‘Get it, Mari!’ He whooped as she sprinted effortlessly, streams of wind flowing through the fabric of her shorts, chest upward, legs pushing power with every stride despite her short stature. She made it look like jogging – like this wasn’t even the fastest she could go. Adrien marvelled at her gracefulness: she had completely pushed past his expectations. Marinette was _powerful._ It wasn’t long before she’d crossed the finish line with ease, far ahead of her opponents.

Nino crumbled to the floor with a long groan, defeated, a long ‘No!’ drawing from his mouth. Adrien laughed joyfully and placed his foot on Nino’s back in a dramatic scene of victory.

‘EXO it is!’ He announced, and Nino let out a sob.

‘My dignity…’

When it was the boys’ turn to line up for their race, Adrien made a quick stop in front of Marinette. While he watched her take a sip from her water bottle, he scanned over her bare arms and legs and wondered how she’d barely broken a sweat. Her hair was still perfect, pulled up in a tousled bun; her breathing was even and calm, not at all raspy; her clothes were magically wrinkle-free. She looked like she’d just finished a photoshoot instead of a sprint. Nevertheless, he knocked himself out of his stare and beamed at her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

‘Thank you for doing God’s work. I’ll send you a list of K-pop choreographies so you can pick the cheesiest one – as a reward.’ He squeezed her shoulder, and she raised her eyebrows, standing up straight to level him with her arms crossed.

‘If you’re trying to sway me from our bet, you’re fighting a lost cause.’ She smirked.

‘Who do you take me for, a fraud?’ Adrien pouted, taken aback by her recent confidence. Where did all the stuttering go?

‘No, more desperate. Since you’re going to lose and will have to go to bed early forever.’

Adrien frowned at her. Where was her hot-headedness all this time? He’d seen her challenge Lila’s lies and tell Chloe to ‘buzz off’ when they were barely into their teens. She was also Alya’s best friend - and, hell, did that take some assertion. This was the first time that her confidence, finally, was directed at Adrien. Her frequent shyness around him often made him worry if he was scary: yet, here she was, standing before him with her arms crossed, head high, lips pursed stubbornly and adorably.

She reminded him of Kagami – Ladybug, too.

‘I definitely have a type.’ He mumbled to himself, quietly enough to stray from Marinette’s ears but audible enough for a self-confrontation. Though it was sweet of her to put on a headstrong front for his wellbeing, and nonetheless attractive, Adrien wasn’t planning on backing down.

Just for a second, he wanted to have the upper hand.

He also wanted to continue his 2AM _Voltron_ marathons – the episodes from the eighties, obviously.

Leaning in towards her, noses close, he made direct eye contact. He’d done this a few times before as Chat Noir, though it never seemed to phase the dark-haired girl. Adrien, however, was apparently a different story. She faltered at his proximity, gulping, eyes wide and lips parted. Adrien smiled.

‘Aren’t you going to wish me luck?’

Marinette’s lower lip trembled. It looked like she was trying to supress a reaction, but her bashfulness had attracted a few (mainly Alya) interested looks. She was so obviously affected by him.

 _She likes me,_ Adrien thought, his smile widening.

Marinette exhaled, looked away, and then met eyes with him. ‘G-good-’ she cleared her throat, blushing. ‘Good luck, A-Adrien.’

Grinning, Adrien straightened up away from her and turned on his heel to join the race.

‘Even though you’re going to lose.’ Her smug voice came from behind him, and Adrien stiffened as though he’d been stabbed.

‘Fucking ROASTED!’ Alya yelled, followed by several interesting attempts at air-horn noises.

‘Really shouldn’t have underestimated a girl that even Lila’s scared of.’ Adrien muttered, shooting Marinette a mopey expression before making his way to the starting line.

As they prepared to run, Adrien’s mind was whirling. Kim stood, tall and fit across from him, a big ball of confidence and athleticism. Adrien could take him, though, definitely: Chat Noir had outrun panthers before, so he could certainly outrun the class jock. The concern, however, was making himself too obvious. He’d already nudged himself into Chat territory by referring to Marinette as ‘princess’ – would she figure him out if he proved his speed, too?

But he really wanted to win the bet against his blue-eyed love interest.

And stay up past nine to watch _Voltron_.

The gun sounded, and the boys around him bolted into a run. Adrien stood still for a moment, pretending to be startled. Then, he looked up at Marinette in the bleachers, who’d tilted her head at him in confusion. He raised his eyebrows, winked at her, then started to walk forward at a breezy pace, lagging far behind his running peers. Kim was far in the distance as Adrien strolled aimlessly along the track, whistling, hands behind his back, grinning as his classmates whispered among themselves at his odd behaviour. As his peers stared at the ridiculous event unfolding before them, Adrien kept Kim in his peripheral vision, calculating his distance from the finish line.

Then, he inhaled.

He broke into a sprint.

Past Nathaniel, past Max, his breathing was still even; past Marc and Ivan, this was too easy! He visualised Marinette’s shocked expression as he whizzed past Nino, leaving him miles behind as he closed in on Kim. The taller student had been too cocky, ran too slow, believing his victory would be automatic. Almost effortlessly, Adrien ran in line with him, so they were next to each other. Kim glanced over, squinted as if his eyes were deceiving him, then his jaw dropped. Adrien Agreste, the perfect boy who was probably forbidden from any activity that involved sweating, was right there. Kim gawked at him, and Adrien responded with a pleasant wave. Finally, while his rival was still in a state of shock and confusion, he gave a two-fingered salute and eased past him at the last second, crossing the finish line only a few steps ahead.

To the shock of everyone around him, Adrien had beaten every single one of his opponents despite walking most of the race.

When he turned to the bleachers, Adrien was not disappointed. Marinette’s face was bright pink and her mouth was wide open. Smirking, he lifted the neckline of his shirt to wipe his face with it and ran a few fingers through his messy hair, easing out the knots and shaking it into his signature style.

‘Why don’t you rip your shirt off and pour water over yourself while you’re at it?’ Nino heckled, unimpressed by his model-like gestures. Adrien cocked an eyebrow at him and laughed.

‘Well, since you asked so nicely.’

‘Do _not_ take your shirt off!’ Nino shouted, but it was too late. Adrien, in his state of confidence and the hazy exhaustion from a night of no sleep, whipped off his sports tee in front of his whole class and spread his arms wide, doing a pretty spin like a peacock.

‘What’s wrong, Nino?’ He cooed, glancing quickly over at Marinette who was hiding her red face in her hands. His peers laughed and cheered among themselves as he placed his hands on his hips. ‘Are you threatened by my godly body?’

‘Now who’s promoting toxic masculinity?!’ Nino yelled, and Adrien dismissed his comment with a wave.

‘Oh, my,’ he gasped, turning back to Marinette with a grin, ‘all this running had made me very hot. I’d better cool down.’

His classmates cheered at him in response, and Adrien waggled his eyebrows at Marinette as she screeched and averted her eyes, Alya egging him on beside her. He slowly unscrewed the cap of his water bottle, humming as his friends whooped with anticipation. Then, in one swift movement, he tipped the bottle over his head, dousing his hair and chest with water.

‘You’re actually disgusting.’ Nino groaned.

‘You love it, really!’ Adrien grinned at him, posing brilliantly as his friends wolf-whistled, a few grabbing their phones to film his moment of glory.

‘Adrien Agreste!’ Their gym teacher bellowed across the racetrack. ‘Put your shirt back on immediately!’

Adrien jolted, unaccustomed to being scolded by teachers, ever the good student. He put on a sheepish smile as he eased his shirt back over his head with a quick ‘Sorry!’, running a hand through his hair to shake out the water. After the sharp ring of the dismissal bell, he made his way over to Nino, who shook his head and clucked at him.

‘You absolute peacock. I hope that was worth it.’

‘What do you mean?’ Adrien asked, playing innocent. Nino gestured to the top of the bleachers where Marinette was curled up in a puddle of embarrassment, cherry-red and whining as Alya laughed mercilessly at her. Adrien smiled.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘You’re a dick.’ Nino muttered. ‘Now, carry me to the cafeteria. I know you’re strong enough now after being exposed to that six-pack.’

‘Why do I have to carry you?’

‘Listen, I’ve suffered enough today. I lost a bet with you, I lost the race even more pathetically than I was expecting, I’m being forced to dance to _K-Pop_ at the school dance, and I just had to witness you prancing around with your shirt off to make Marinette blush.’ Nino flung his arms out expectantly. ‘Carry me.’

‘So lazy,’ Adrien rolled his eyes, chuckling, ‘I at least hope you’ve been laying off the pastries.’

‘Hard to when Marinette brings them in every morning. Now hurry up, if we don’t get there soon all the good food will go!’

‘Fine, fine,’ Adrien scooped his best friend up bridal-style, ‘let’s get you some lunch.’

‘Well, well,’ Alya’s voice arrived loud and clear as she fell into step with them, tugging a still flustered Marinette by the arm, ‘what do you think you’re doing with my boyfriend, Agreste?’

‘Hey, it was his idea.’ Adrien laughed as Nino sprawled out luxuriously in his arms. ‘He couldn’t be bothered to walk.’

‘He’s been like that ever since he learned to drive.’ Alya mused.

‘Yeah, speaking of which,’ Nino chipped in, ‘I’m not letting you drive my car ever again, Adrien. Not after you nearly drove it into the canal when you and Marinette stole it from me.’

‘I think that’s fair. We had a good time though, right Marinette?’

‘It was fun until we got into trouble with Sabrina’s dad.’

‘Well, Roger needs to lay off young drivers who are just trying to have a good time!’

‘He’s a cop, Adrien.’ Alya sighed.

‘He’s not above the law!’

‘He _is_ the law,’ Marinette laughed. ‘And technically you were breaking it.’

‘It was your idea to steal Nino’s car.’ Adrien smirked.

‘And you promised to take me somewhere with good music, but you didn’t. You nearly drowned us into the canal instead.’

‘Guess I’ll have to make it up to you, then.’

‘Quit flirting and pick up the pace! Daddy needs his potato wedges!’

‘Then you should start laying off the pastries so I can walk faster, _daddy._ ’

Alya rolled her eyes. ‘Y’know, there’s a whole lot of sexual tension happening here that I’m not involved in, and I feel a little neglected.’

‘I love you, Alya,’ Marinette said, ‘much more than Nino does.’

‘Hey!’ Nino whined.

‘I love you too, Marinette. More than Adrien loves to drive into canals.’

‘Hey!’ Adrien mimicked Nino, pouting as his friends laughed together on their search for a decent lunch.

 

* * *

 

 

When Adrien returned home that afternoon, he knew what he had to do, despite wishing that he didn’t have to. His father stood, tall and dejected as always atop the staircase, leering down at him with the gaze of a preying buzzard on a telegraph pole. How could a man related by blood make Adrien's whole body turn cold just from a stony glare? He peered at him expectantly as Adrien rose up each step, attempting to remain determined.

‘Adrien.’

‘Father,’ the teenager gulped at the man before him, paler and taller and thinner, mirrored only by matching straight noses and a sharp jawline each. The rest of Adrien’s appearance was accredited to his mother: the warm tones of his hair; a delicate mouth; bright emerald eyes framed with expressive brows.

 _‘You look so much like Emilie,’_ Gabriel would always say, as if it were a blessing and a curse.

Adrien cleared his throat and tugged at the collar of his shirt. ‘I would like to go out tomorrow.’

‘You can’t,’ Gabriel replied, immediately, ‘you have a clothes fitting scheduled for the upcoming Summer collection.’

‘Father,’ Adrien gritted his teeth, ‘I have invited someone to spend the day with me tomorrow. It would be kind of bad etiquette to turn her down at the last minute.’

Gabriel sighed, the objection going straight through one ear and out the other, barely considered. ‘I’m sure Miss Bourgeois has many other things to do with her time.’

‘It’s not Chloe. It’s Marinette.’

Gabriel furrowed his eyebrows. ‘You’ve never spoken of a ‘Marinette’ before.’

‘Dupain-Cheng,’ Adrien elaborated, ‘a friend of mine, she’s in my classes at school. She won your competition a few years ago for her hat design-’

‘The derby hat, with the pigeon feather.’ Gabriel hummed, tone shifting just slightly but noticeable enough for his hopeful son to latch on to. ‘I remember. She’s got a talented sense of design, especially for her age.’

‘That’s her!’ Adrien grinned, optimism bubbling within him at his Father’s rare compliment. He stood for a moment, swaying back and forth from the balls of his feet to his toes, chewing his lip, debating on how much or little to explain. ‘See, we’ve sort of been getting close recently. Marinette and I. I like her a lot, Father.’

Gabriel remained quiet, expression unchanging – but he wasn’t getting angry, which was a good sign.

‘I’ve asked her out on a date tomorrow. I’m sorry that it’s clashed with my fittings and I promise that I’ll make it up to you. But I shouldn’t go back on my word. I think she’d be good for me.’ Adrien pressed his lips together and turned his attention to the floor. ‘Please, Father.’ He begged, quietly.

The air on the staircase was thick. Eerie silence hung between them as Gabriel contemplated, the only whisper of sound coming from the antique clock on the wall. As it ticked, Adrien grew more and more anxious: he prayed for his father to recognise his maturity, he was far too old now to be mollycoddled and protected. ‘I don’t ask for things like this very often,’ he added, hoping to feed his cause, ‘you know I wouldn’t bring this up if it wasn’t important to me. And Marinette… she’s important.’

‘She’ll also be a major distraction.’

Adrien’s heart sunk. Gabriel eyed him.

‘Which is why I have some reservations for your… friendship with Miss Dupain-Cheng. I ask that you take these rules seriously.’

‘You mean-?’ The blonde boy’s eyes widened, and he looked up to meet his father’s gaze. ‘You’re letting me go?’

‘Whatever develops between Miss Dupain-Cheng and yourself will not get in the way of your modelling. Your career is your highest priority, and I will not see you slacking because you’re love-sick.’

‘Of course!’

‘Remember that whenever you go out in public, you’re representing the _Agreste_ brand. Do not tarnish our name.’

‘I promise!’

‘And if you decide to get more involved, make sure you act cautiously and safely.’

Gabriel gave him a knowing look, and Adrien’s face flamed up.

‘Uh – noted.’ He gave his father an awkward smile and went to retreat to his room; the thought of his father providing safe sex advice was too daunting to engage in.

‘And Adrien,’

Adrien stopped and turned on his heel. ‘Yes, father?’

‘There will be some that may be… disappointed, if they find out about your unavailability.’

‘Unavailability?’ Adrien frowned.

‘I might suggest you keep your relationship with Miss Dupain-Cheng out of the public eye.’

‘Oh…’ The young man nodded slowly, unsure how to take that. ‘Whatever you think is best.’

‘Good. Make sure you stay safe.’

‘I’ll try, but it might be hard if there’s an akuma attack.’ Adrien chuckled lightly, only half-joking. Gabriel’s lips pressed into a thin line.

‘Let’s hope not.’

Adrien blinked at his father’s expression. ‘Thanks for letting me go out, anyway. It means a lot.’

His father nodded briefly, then dismissed him with a wave. Feeling a little uncertain, but mainly excited, Adrien returned to his bedroom. Gabriel remained on the stairs, watching every giddy step his son took away from him, scrutinising the obvious delight in his pace. He calculated a decision.

‘Nathalie,’

His assistant came to his aid, quick and ready as always. ‘Mister Agreste.’

‘I need you to postpone our plans.’

‘Sir, we’ve already made arrangements with-’

‘Then she’ll have to be disappointed. Adrien will be out tomorrow. I will not sacrifice his safety.’

‘Of course, Mister Agreste.’ Nathalie pushed her glasses further up the bridge of her nose. ‘I’ll see to it.’


	6. 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer than usual - contains a lil bit of an existential crisis and lots and lots of dialogue.
> 
> If anyone wants the song that Marinette listens to, you can listen along here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTfHUbffjr0

Marinette had been tarnished by severe nightmares ever since her powers were bestowed upon her. Tonight was no different: she prayed for a good night’s sleep, just for once, so she could wake up for her date well-rested and ready to go. However, the universe was against her; she tossed and turned as images of Hawkmoth thrashed through her mind, visions of Volpina staring down at her with the winged mask of an akuma framing her cat-like eyes. Then there were the soul-crushing nightmares, the worst of the worst, that left her scrambling to wake up with a sweat-slicked back and rasps of empty breath.

Losing Nino, his green-hooded Carapace armour fading into wisps of magic as he collapsed to the floor. Losing Alya, her Rena Rouge flute snapped in two beside her, the life leaving her amber irises as Nino screamed for her. Losing Adrien, perfect skin scuffed up with scratches and bruises, laying as if slumbering, left without breath.

Losing Chat Noir; with no lucky charm to bring him back.

Marinette ripped herself from sleep, freezing cold and fiery hot at the same time, pressed two fingers to the throbbing pulse in her temple and let out a long sigh. Tikki watched her through eyes just cracked open, their shared energy of the Ladybug alerting the small fairy of her human’s distress. Marinette’s nightmares were something they had grown used to dealing with, and the kwami eased back into sleep as her dark-haired host whispered hushed consolations of ‘I’m fine’ and ‘go back to sleep’. Once sure that Tikki had settled, Marinette eased herself out of bed, bare toes brushing the floor followed by the flattening of her soles on the varnished wood. Fingers fumbled on her bedside table for her phone, then headphones, which she plugged into each ear after selecting a gentle song to sink herself back into equilibrium. She stretched up, the hem of her nightshirt brushing her goosepimpled thighs, and opened the trap door above her with a small click before slipping onto her rooftop balcony. The cool night air hit her like a dive into cold water. Sharp, but refreshing.

She wrapped her arms around her shoulders and inched towards the edge of the balcony, acoustic guitar against her eardrums. The drop to the streets below wasn’t too great – Ladybug would be able to swing down with ease. But if human Marinette took one more step off the building, she would freefall onto the cobbles below and hurt herself terribly, maybe even kill herself if she landed in a deadly position. Her mortality was frightening without her spots on. It proved just how easily Ladybug could slip from the world’s grasp by Marinette’s fragility alone. And what was the world without Ladybug? A world without rectification, a world where evil damage could never be undone.

Marinette refused to die. Not until Hawkmoth was defeated. For if her nightmares became a reality and her friends were killed by an akuma, only the power of Ladybug could bring them back. The fear of burying her friends was too awful to allow.

Especially with Chat Noir as her partner. Reckless Chat Noir, who threw himself into the arms of danger whenever Ladybug was threatened. He’d died doing it before – technically. She’d lost him to Timebreaker years ago, and if it weren’t for her lucky charm he would have stayed gone forever. Ladybug needed Chat to keep her alive, so Ladybug could ultimately bring him back from death. It was the cycle of balance between the two most powerful kwami.

As her thoughts lingered on her impulsive partner, miraculous coincidence occurred. Marinette peered into the distance and saw him, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, his baton twirling with the swift elegance of the black cat miraculous. She couldn’t help but smile as he moved effortlessly through the skyline. What could that cat be chasing, she thought, as he launched himself with a smooth front-flip across a particularly large drop, wind and starlight in his hair, landing perfectly upright on the tip of a chimney. Marinette giggled as he punched the air triumphantly, proud of his well-executed stunt.

‘You always land on your feet.’ Marinette breathed, taking another step towards the edge of the terrace. Suddenly, Chat Noir stumbled, as if startled, and swung his face in her direction. They blinked at each other across several rooftops, and Marinette’s eyes went wide. How had he noticed her so suddenly? The question remained only briefly before the answer hit her with the memory of their last patrol. Chat didn’t discover her presence out of pure coincidence – he’d felt her, the same way he felt Volpina skulking around Notre Dame. Chat’s eyes met hers, vivid and green, bright against the darkness of his suit that faded into the night around them.

The music in her ears swelled. He was watching her curiously and, despite being so far away, Marinette could tell he was smiling. Chuckling to herself, Marinette lifted her arm to wave at him. He waved back, paused, and then began to do a silly dance against the silhouette of the moon, wrists on his hips, waggling his arms like a chicken. Marinette cackled as he continued his montage of dances, going from the Funky Chicken to The Sprinkler to Gangnam Style, all atop the roof of an unsuspecting household. Once the dark-haired girl had gathered her composure, still spluttering out giggles as she gripped the railing of her balcony, Chat held his hand up above his head and gestured to her. Puzzled, she shrugged at him. He pointed at her, then his hand in the air, then made a twirling gesture with his finger. His series of directions only baffled her more, and she shook her head at him. He laughed at her, then held up a single finger.

Wait a moment, he was saying.

Chat Noir surged downwards from the rooftop, so fast it gave Marinette a heart attack as he shot like a bullet into the streets below. ‘Stupid cat!’ She gasped, leaning left and right to scan for his figure in the dark alleys surrounding the bakery. Marinette knew Chat Noir inch by inch, every single one of his battle tactics and pick-up lines and bad puns. Every twitch of his cat ears, the sharp green of his eyes, the cocky smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth was so familiar to her she could picture him from memory, all of him.

And yet, when he swung up out of nowhere onto the railing of her balcony, Marinette Dupain-Cheng still jumped in surprise.

Chat Noir was the magnificent mix of predictability and unpredictability.

It was predictable for him to lean towards her, so their faces were close. It was predictable of him to cock his head at her as if waiting for some kind of permission – permission for something she couldn’t anticipate. It was predictable of him to smile that heart-melting smile at her until her mind went fuzzy.

‘What do you want, cat?’ Despite his tormenting flirtation, Marinette was smiling back at him. He held his hand up again like he did across the rooftops.

‘Take it.’ He said. Blinking and befuddled, she obliged, so their hands were clasped above their heads. Chat smiled at her again, then twirled her under his arm into a spin. The dark-haired girl released a breath of laughter as he curled her against his chest to put a hand on her hip, swaying her without melody in an awkward dance.

‘You came over here just to dance with me?’

‘I need practice.’ He grinned at her, then yelped when she stood on his toe and pretended it was an accident. ‘I’ve got prom coming up, and I want to impress my date.’

‘Well you’re not in time, kitty.’ Marinette snorted. Turning her attention to the song still playing from her phone, she unplugged a headphone and pressed it into her partner’s ear. ‘Let me give you a beat.’

Chat Noir took a moment to tentatively listen to the melody, his head bobbing up and down to familiarise himself with the rhythm. As he grew used to the song, he began to rock Marinette against him, confident now with the aid of a steady drum. She slid her free hand atop his shoulder as he swept her across the terrace, joined by music that only they could hear, a melody in one ear and the peaceful sounds of the night in the other. Their fingers unclasped: Chat settled both hands on her hips and rested his cheek against her hair, expression lost to her beneath a mass of messy blonde locks. She mirrored him, lacing her arms around his neck and placing her chin on his shoulder. She felt oddly nostalgic as they danced close together, reminiscing her dance with Adrien at Chloe’s birthday. She was younger, then, but the warmth in her chest remained the same. Chat’s breath in her ear was steady. He was thinking.

‘Don’t you think your date would be a little… unforgiving, if she found out you practiced your dance moves on another girl?’ Marinette teased, though the question was still genuine. Chat was quiet for a moment.

‘No.’ He answered eventually, something smug in his voice.

‘Why not?’

‘I just got a hunch, y’know?’

‘If you insist,’ she hummed, ‘what’s her name?’

‘Ah-ah-ah, no personal questions. Wouldn’t want you to figure out who I am behind the mask, would I?’ He pulled back slightly to wink at her, and Marinette laughed.

‘If I wanted to find out your human identity, I would have done so already.’

‘You seem awfully confident about that.’ Chat said, tone humorous.

‘What’s she like? You told me years ago that you were in love with Ladybug. Is your new date anything like her?’

‘Geez, you’re putting my identity on the line over here!’

‘Aw, c’mon, Chat! You must have a type!’

The superhero scoffed at that, then paused to think. ‘I guess they’re similar. I’ve been cursed to find hot-headedness very sexy.’

‘You’re an idiot.’

‘Now that you mention it, I guess that means you’re my type, too.’ He mused, and Marinette flushed pink.

‘You’re an idiot.’ She said, again. ‘So they’re both hot-headed. That’s all they have in common?’

‘A certain strength of character, I suppose.’ Chat started. ‘Stubborn, but loyal, and incredibly selfless. But don’t get me wrong – I’m not chasing after some kind of Ladybug two-point-oh. Ladybug knows everything about me because we’ve been stuck together for five or six years, now. This new girl… she actually seems to listen to me. As if she wants to get to know me, rather than being obliged to.’ He paused, looking at his friend for affirmation. ‘Does that make sense?’

‘I think so…’ Marinette whispered. ‘You really think Ladybug doesn’t want to get to know you?’

‘Yeah.’ Chat shrugged, and guilt surged through her. ‘She has her reasons, though. She never wanted to mix our personal and superhero lives. Too messy. Easy for Hawkmoth to intervene.’

 

‘That makes sense.’ Marinette said uneasily.

‘I suppose.’ Chat replied. His eyes met hers again, and something in the back of her mind screamed at her.

She ignored it, as it was too incoherent to understand.

‘You know,’ he said slowly, ‘that you’re absolutely amazing. Right?’

Marinette blinked up at him, a smile on her lips. ‘Where did that come from?’

‘I just wanted to make you aware.’ He chuckled, removing his headphone and sticking it back in Marinette’s empty ear. He released her from his grip as the song faded to its end. ‘Thanks for the dance lesson, but I gotta pounce. I have a hot date I need to prepare for.’

‘Really?’ She hummed. ‘I hope it goes well, kitty.’

‘Thanks.’ He said, followed by a weighty pause. ‘I hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow, too.’

Marinette cocked an eyebrow at him. She didn’t remember telling him that she had a date, too. ‘Go get some sleep, Chaton.’

Chat Noir hopped onto the balcony railing and offered a two-fingered salute, ‘Bonne nuit, princess,’ he said, before disappearing into the night with a swing of his silver baton. Marinette still felt like her brain was jabbing her for a revelation of some kind of revelation, plucking the back of her mind and tugging at her heartstrings. Whatever it was, she decided to squash it for now; she could deliberate on it after some much-needed rest.

 

* * *

 

 

When Adrien woke the next morning he felt refreshed, despite running low on sleep. Standing in front of his mirror, he poked at the bags under his eyes self-consciously. Marinette was used to his frequently exhausted appearance at school, but this was a date. A little concealer here and there would do the trick, and he was sure his raven-haired friend would appreciate the effort. Plagg found a cosy spot in his jacket pocket as Adrien dressed himself in a white tee and tailored trousers, deciding that a mix of casual and formal was safer than picking one over the other; Marinette would look fantastic as usual, after all.

He was far too early, he noted, as he arrived opposite The Louvre in their meeting spot. He checked his watch: half-an-hour early, to be exact. Pinching the bridge of his nose and cursing at himself for being overprepared, Adrien spent a moment swaying on the balls of his feet and pursing out his lips, willing time to go faster. He was so caught up in his boredom that he didn’t notice Marinette approaching until she was directly in his gaze, hands laced in front of her shyly.

Adrien was stumped. She was beautiful, as he knew she would be, dressed in a matching off-the-shoulder crop top and maxi skirt, dusty pink, dark hair loose on her shoulders, almost sapphire-coloured under the rays of Parisian sunlight that bounced off the Audrey Hepburn sunglasses on the crest of her head. He gazed at her stupidly as she fiddled with the jade ring on her finger, a little uneasy under his intense stare.

‘Hi,’ Adrien started, dumbly. Marinette blinked at him behind winged eyeliner, fingers shaking.

‘Hey – hi – w-what’s up?’ She managed.

‘Are you okay?’

‘Y-yes. No.’ Marinette chewed on her lip. ‘Nervous.’

‘Me too.’ Adrien smiled at her, and she twitched her lips at him in return. ‘Nice outfit. Where did you get it?’

‘Oh,’ his date glanced down at her matching top and skirt, brushing the hem sheepishly, ‘I thrifted it. It was actually a dress when I bought it, so I cut it into two and switched it up a little.’

‘Do you ever not alter your own clothes?’ Adrien laughed.

‘I like to make them individual… does that sound kind of conceited?’

‘No,’ he replied, grinning down at her, ‘it sounds very Marinette Dupain-Cheng.’

‘I don’t know whether that’s a compliment.’ She smiled, falling into step with him as he gestured for her to walk with him.

‘I happen to like Marinette Dupain-Cheng a lot. So yes, it is a compliment.’ When his date blushed, Adrien grinned. ‘Don’t ever doubt yourself, Marinette. Even my dad thinks you’re a fantastic designer.’

She turned to gape at him. ‘Wait – really?’

‘Absolutely. When I told him I was going on a date with you, he remembered your derby hat from the competition he held back when we were twelve – which is saying something, because he’s seen a whole lot of hats in the past few years.’

‘The one that Chloe copied?’ Marinette laughed. ‘That feels like an era ago.’

‘I don’t think Chloe’s changed all that much.’ Adrien chuckled.

‘I disagree,’ Marinette passed through the entrance to a café as Adrien held the door open for her, ‘I think being Queen Bee has given her a lot of responsibility. Besides, have you met her mum? Chloe’s selfishness made a whole lot of sense when I met Mrs Bourgeois.’

‘She’s pretty crazy,’ Adrien agreed, settling them into a discreet corner of the coffee shop, ‘her father’s not the greatest, either. She used to love staying at my house when we were kids – we even used to pretend she was secretly my sister that was taken away from us at birth.’ He paused as they seated themselves. ‘Kind of depressing, now I think about it.’

Marinette frowned, shook her head, then propped up a menu between them, shielding the couple from the rest of the café. Adrien’s friends had learned to conceal his presence in public: he’d been chased by paparazzi ever since he was a child, and Adrien appreciated having space away from the public eye. ‘Whatcha getting?’ She asked.

‘Green tea. You?’

‘Americano. Tea is for the weak.’

‘You don’t like tea?’ Adrien gasped. ‘Fake Asian!’

‘I know, I’m a fraud.’ She laughed, sticking her tongue out at him in a way that made his heart flutter. ‘Coffee’s my best friend – I don’t get a lot of sleep.’

‘How come?’ Adrien cocked his head at her. Marinette smiled uneasily.

‘Uh, I guess it’s mainly schoolwork. Mash that up with building my design portfolio, university applications, and helping out in the bakery.’ Chewing on her lower lip, Marinette toyed with her earrings as Adrien gave the waitress their order. ‘I also get pretty bad nightmares.’

‘Really?’ The blonde boy frowned at her, inching himself closer in his seat. He slid out his feet to nudge hers under the table. ‘Did you want to talk about them? I’m no stranger, either.’ He chuckled, despite having nothing to laugh at.

Marinette seemed to calculate her next words carefully, teeth still working at her peach-coloured lips. She shifted in her chair, exhaled, and leaned closer to him across the table. ‘It’s just scary, y’know? Our current situation in Paris. It seems like everyone I care about has been akumatised, or at least impacted by one. I’m so scared that, one day, Hawkmoth will go too far, and I’ll lose my friends for good.’

‘But that’s why we have Ladybug!’ Adrien encouraged, a little too loudly, ducking behind the upright menu when a few heads turned in interest. ‘She always manages to fix everything.’

‘How long can she keep it up, though? Ladybug will have to fail at some point. What if my friends die because of it?’

Adrien winced, as if it were him she was insulting and not his precious partner. He was a little surprised that she’d doubted Ladybug so outrightly; for some reason he’d assumed Marinette was a fan of hers, considering they were so similar in values.

Should he argue with her about this? If it were anyone else, Adrien would defend Ladybug until he couldn’t speak, if he had to – but this was Marinette. Marinette always had her reasons. ‘You seem to have such little faith in Ladybug.’ Adrien decided. ‘Why?’

‘Because she’s a human being, Adrien. Which means she has the ability to make mistakes.’ Something unknown flashed through her eyes, and when Adrien tried to identify it, it disappeared as the waitress handed them their drinks. ‘Think about it,’ she continued, slinking her pale hands round the warmth of her coffee cup, ‘Hawkmoth’s caused so many near-deaths. Including you. You literally got thrown off a building at the hands of an akuma.’

‘Ladybug caught me.’ He interjected.

‘And if she hadn’t?’

‘You really don’t think she’s capable of saving everyone?’ Adrien wasn’t meaning to raise his voice. He knew that if Ladybug were here, she wouldn’t want him to defend her. Marinette was something new for him and yet oh-so familiar, but despite his growing feelings for her, something still ached inside him to safeguard his partner, to convince Marinette of Ladybug’s perfection. Was it love that made him do this? Infatuation, like Nino had said? Or was he so used to putting her on a pedestal that it had become habit for him to defend her at all costs? ‘She’s a superhero. Practically an angel – a goddess, even. She has the power to fix everything with just a little flick of her yo-yo, and you really choose to dislike her?’

‘I don’t dislike her at all.’ Marinette said, a certain sternness in her tone that clamped Adrien’s mouth shut. ‘In fact, I think I have a better understanding of her than most people do. Don’t you think it would be exhausting to have so much expectation thrown at you? To have the lives of everyone in Paris, France, even the world, in your hands? Ladybug will fail at some point, of course she will, not because she’s incapable but because she’s not perfect. All this pressure to protect so many people will eventually take its toll on her. She’s strong, but she also has the right to make mistakes. The more we tell her she can’t, the more likely she’ll buckle because of it.’

A silence fell across the table, interrupted only by background noise of light chatter and the clink of teaspoons against ceramic teacups. Marinette’s firm expression slid into embarrassment at the sight of Adrien’s wide eyes, obviously taken aback by her outburst. Her lips parted to speak.

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t-’

‘How do you do that?’ Adrien interrupted, still looking at her as if she had a second head. She blinked at him.

‘Do what?’

‘Read people.’ He replied, pin-prick pupils dilating into something warmer and awestruck. ‘You have the most weirdly amazing skill of tapping into people’s beings, as if you know them personally.’ When his date went red and stammered out protests, he continued. ‘You’ve done it before. With Chloe, Nathaniel, Marc – so many of our friends. You’re almost superhuman, too.’ He leaned towards her so he could scrutinise her flushed face, smiling as her irises darted around to avoid eye contact with him. ‘Do me.’

‘What?’ Marinette squeaked.

Adrien realised his grave mistake.

‘No – I didn’t mean-’ he grimaced, shaking his head rapidly, ‘I mean I want you to do me, too! Figure me out like you’ve done with everyone else.’

‘Figure you out?’ She rasped.

‘Yeah! Make some crazy assumptions about me. The juicier the better!’

‘I’m really not that good at it!’

Adrien hummed. ‘Okay, how about this? I’ll ask you some questions about me, and you have to guess the answers. Then I can do the same for you.’

Marinette arched an eyebrow at him, swirling the spoon in her coffee absently. ‘What kind of questions?’

‘Let’s see…’ Adrien tapped a finger against his lower lip. ‘How big is my family? What’s my favourite videogame?’ He paused. Then, he grinned. ‘And how many people do you think I’ve kissed?’

His friend gave him an are-you-being-serious look. When Adrien merely responded with a bright smile, Marinette sighed. ‘Okay, fine. Family… you have a small family. I feel like you don’t have many cousins – maybe one aunt or uncle? I get the feeling that the Agrestes are business-above-kids kind of people.’

‘Interesting.’ Adrien responded, cryptically.

‘Your favourite videogame is Runescape.’ Marinette decided, grinning when her date cackled in response. ‘Because you’re an RPG guy. As for how many people you’ve kissed,’ she looked him over, as if squinting at him hard enough would give her a correct answer, ‘I think you’ve kissed seven people.’

‘That’s ambitious.’ He snorted, lacing his fingers together so he could rest his chin on top. ‘Bonus points if you can name who.’

‘Chloe. I bet you two were married in primary school.’

‘Divorced when I got juice on her stuffed bear.’ Adrien nodded. ‘Go on.’

‘Around three of them were probably crazy fans that jumped you without consent. As for the rest – you’ve kissed Kagami, Nino, and if rumours are true, Lila.’

Adrien laughed, revelling in the confident assumptions she had of him. ‘Which one do you think you got wrong?’

‘The family one?’

‘The family one was the only answer you got right.’

‘You don’t like Runescape?’ Marinette gaped, and Adrien laughed harder, leaning back in his chair and throwing his arms round the back of his head.

‘Father had a very strict filtering system on the internet when I was a kid. Never got the chance to play it.’

‘Damn.’ Marinette pouted. ‘So… out of curiosity. How many people have you kissed?’

Adrien grinned at her. ‘I’m gonna reveal that last for dramatic effect.’

‘Come on!’ His friend whined, Adrien ignored her lavishly.

‘You were right about my family being small. I have one aunt on my mother’s side, who has a son the same age as me.’ He paused. ‘I haven’t seen them since Mum disappeared.’

Marinette frowned at him: the guilt in her eyes made him cringe, so he decided to lighten the topic.

‘I don’t mind, though. He was kind of an asshole.’

‘There’s always one.’ She smiled crookedly.

‘Unfortunately, I have never been graced by Runescape. My favourite videogame is actually Skyrim.’

‘Ah, I should have known. There’s a side of you that likes to play the hero, huh?’

‘Definitely.’ He replied, irony tugging at the corner of his lips. ‘I have to be gracious and polite wherever I am to uphold the Agreste image. It’s nice to come home, settle down, and go berserk on a cult of fictional vampires.’

‘I bet you have a crush on Serana.’

‘Hard not to – dark hair, strong-willed, and ferociously stubborn? Everything I like in a woman.’ His eyes twinkled, locking into Marinette’s as he listed each personality trait that conveniently fitted with her. She blinked at him slowly, ocean eyes under dark eyelashes; piecing something together behind them.

Her brows furrowed. Her nose scrunched up. All at once she was staring at him, a mixture of confusion and disbelief in her expression – not at all what Adrien was going for with his flirtation.

Realisation hit him like a smack in the face. He’d already used that line on her the night before.

Only then, he was wearing a mask and a pair of cat ears.

‘Anyway-’ He started, quickly, trying to conceal the panic in his tone, ‘you were wrong when you said I’ve kissed seven people.’

Whatever suspicion in Marinette’s gaze melted into intrigue. ‘How many, then? Eight? Ten?’

‘One.’ Adrien practically fizzed with delight at his date’s shock, watching with amusement as she choked on a sip of her coffee. ‘Seriously, Marinette, who do you take me for? You really thought I’d kissed seven people?’

‘But that’s impossible!’ She spluttered. ‘You’ve had so many opportunities! You and Kagami-’

‘Went on one date and ended up staying just friends?’

‘Chloe-’

‘She tried many times in third year, all of which I pretended to have a contagious disease.’

‘Nino!’ She exclaimed with absolute certainty. ‘If you’ve only ever kissed one person, it has to be Nino!’

‘I haven’t kissed Nino.’ Marinette crumpled in defeat. ‘I think Alya would drown me in the canal if I did.’

‘Alya already thinks you guys have. I mean, when you first started at school, you two were so close.’

‘As much as I love him, Nino and I would make a terrible couple. We’re both way too passive – that’s why Alya balances him out so well.’

‘I suppose…’ Marinette frowned. ‘So, it’s true? Lila’s the girl you kissed.’

‘Yes, Lila and I made out under the stars on a beach in California because, somehow, we’d both gone abroad to the exactly the same place at exactly the same time.’ Adrien tilted his head at her, intrigued by the flood of relief on her face. ‘I thought you of all people knew that Lila’s a compulsive liar?’

Marinette shrugged at him. ‘I know. I was just grasping at straws.’

‘You’re glad it wasn’t her.’ He noted. Marinette pressed her lips together.

‘I wouldn’t understand why you’d want to.’ She huffed. Deciding not to stir the pot any longer, Adrien downed the rest of his herbal tea and returned it to the table with a sharp smack, jolting his date out of her sour mood.

‘My turn.’

‘For what?’

‘I’m gonna make assumptions about you.’

‘You didn’t tell me who it was you’ve kissed!’

The memory of Ladybug’s mouth against his left a tight feeling in his chest. ‘It was just that girl who rejected me a little while ago. And as much as I wish I could give you a passionate recount, I don’t think it meant a lot to her.’

‘Did you kiss her?’

‘She kissed me.’

‘Then it must have meant something to her, because otherwise she wouldn’t have done it.’

Adrien’s eyebrows furrowed. ‘You’re doing that thing again where you understand people without even knowing them.’ Marinette giggled musically and twirled a lock of raven hair round her finger.

‘Come on, then. Family, videogame, kisses – take a wild guess.’

‘I’ll do better than that.’ Adrien scooted his chair closer so he could lean close to her, inspecting her eyes as if they were his crystal ball. She pinkened, pupils focused, watching him watching her.

‘You also have a small family, which is why you and your parents are so close.’ Marinette smiled at him, so he continued. ‘You say you struggle with school, work, and nightmares, so I doubt you play the same intense battle games you did when we were thirteen. I’m gonna guess you play stuff that’s more easy-going, a simulation game or something. And you’ve kissed four people.’

‘Bonus points for who.’ She echoed his earlier joust, so he obliged.

‘Nathaniel, Kim, Kagami, and Luka.’

‘You think I’ve kissed Kagami?’

‘I know you’ve kissed Kagami.’ He mused. ‘She told me.’

The corner of Marinette’s mouth twitched upwards, eyes sparkling. ‘Busted.’ She said cheekily.

‘I got it all right, then?’ Adrien asked.

‘I can confirm that, other than Kagami and Luka, you got all of it wrong.’

‘Dammit!’ Adrien cursed, and Marinette laughed.

‘My family is nowhere near small – there’s loads of us, and we live all over the place. I have relatives across Europe and Asia and I get invited to a different cousin’s wedding at least once a year.’ She waved the waitress over and ordered them another drink each, this time adding a slice of cake to share. ‘And as much as I appreciate a nice, calming farming simulator, I prefer to take out my frustrations with Beat Saber. I get to thrash around to music for a while and exercise as I do it.’

‘I was wondering how you found time to work up on top of your busy schedule.’ Adrien muttered. ‘So what happened with Kagami, anyway? I always got the feeling you two didn’t like each other.’

‘Initially, she was a little stony with me because she thought I was competition for you. This was all the way back on our ice-skating double date, by the way.’ Marinette shook her head, smiling. ‘Guess the rest of it was just sexual tension. She’d had all but half a glass of wine at that fencing social you invited me to and suddenly she wanted to kiss me in the bathroom.’

‘Romantic.’ He nodded. ‘How come you didn’t end up happily married? You’re not interested in girls?’

‘No, I’m interested in girls – Kagami’s just very intense. Attractive, but a little much. I think you understand.’

‘Completely.’ Adrien laughed. ‘She exhausts me enough as a fencing rival, I can’t imagine what dating her is like.’

‘Passionate and short, I’d say.’ Marinette hummed.

Adrien smiled at her, now riddled with curiosity. ‘So, who else was lucky enough to kiss the famous Marinette Dupain-Cheng?’

‘Lucky is the worst word for it.’ Marinette groaned. ‘I’ve kissed three people. I kissed Luka several times when we were seeing each other, and Kagami happened after we broke up and he left for university.’

‘And the third?’

‘The third,’ she stopped, as if debating whether to tell him, ‘remember when Nathaniel got akumatised and I had to work with Chat Noir to defeat him?’

‘Vaguely?’ Adrien’s brows furrowed once more.

‘We actually had a bit of a thing afterwards.’

Marinette met eyes with him, seriousness in her gaze, and Adrien felt like his brain had short-circuited. Panic flooded through him for the second time that day.

What did she mean, “we had a thing”? What was the definition of “thing”, anyway? Sure, Chat had flirted with her a few times and they’d hung out when he needed a break from patrol, but he wasn’t aware that any of it was romantic!

He tried to respond, but words fell out of his mouth in a garbled mess and his sentences refused to string together. There was absolutely no way that Marinette, the most honest girl in Paris, was spinning tales about a secret relationship with his alter ego. He swallowed thickly.

‘Y-you and Chat Noir had a… thing?’

‘Something like that.’ For talking about a love affair with a superhero, Marinette was being extremely casual. ‘He came and visited me on my balcony after Ladybug rejected him this one time. He took me to a rooftop he’d decorated with candles and roses and poured his heart out to me.’

_True._

‘Then he kissed me under the moonlight.’

_Definitely not true._

‘I didn’t see him for a few months, but he was all I thought about. I just couldn’t get over him – he was so brave, passionate, and extremely handsome.’ Adrien was on fire. Apparently, he hadn’t got the memo of Marinette’s furious attraction to his superhero side. ‘Then, I finally saw him again. He came to my balcony after defeating an akuma, I confessed my love to him, and he agreed to have dinner with my family. It was then he told me we couldn’t be together - he was in love with Ladybug and didn’t want to risk my safety by dating a civilian.’

_True._

‘My father ended up getting akumatised, and once Chat Noir defeated him, he kissed me again out of relief that I was safe.’

_Surely not true?_

 

‘I saw him again, last night.’ She said softly, and Adrien’s mind started blaring with warning signals. ‘It was like he felt me, across the skyline of Paris. He came to my balcony and we danced together. He told me I was amazing.’

_True._

‘And he kissed me again, one last time.’

_This is crazy!_

Marinette was effortlessly narrating moments she shared with Chat Noir, moments that did happen - minus the kissing. But the genuine seriousness in her tone and the way her hand curled over her heart was dazing him. Maybe it did happen – maybe they did kiss, three times, and Adrien was too stupid to remember it. Maybe he’d blocked Marinette’s kisses out of his memory in favour of pursuing Ladybug.

Did he kiss her last night? He wasn’t aware that he did, but Marinette seemed so sure. He sent vicious thoughts at Plagg in hopes that the miraculous stone in his ring kept them mentally connected, desperately asking if Chat Noirs were cursed to forget kisses after detransformation. Plagg remained silent in his satchel, and Adrien wanted to slam his head on the table.

‘Adrien,’ Marinette breathed, fixated on him as he sweated profusely.

Don’tbesuspiciousdon’tbesuspiciousdon’tbesuspiciousdon’tbesuspiciousdon’tbesuspicious—

‘Y-y-yes?’

Too suspicious!

A smile stretched across her lips, wide and cat-like.

‘I’m kidding.’

‘What?’

‘I’m messing with you, Adrien.’

He felt like shrivelling up and dying. He let out a long breath he didn’t know he was holding and launched out his arms, grabbing her hands over the table. ‘You sneak!’ He hissed while she howled with laughter, cackling uncontrollably as he gripped her hands and shook them, attempting to snap her out of her laughing fit. ‘You tricked me! I really thought you’d been off smacking mouths with Chat Noir!’

‘In what universe?’ She cried, tears of extreme amusement on her lower eyelids. ‘He’s in love with Ladybug!’

Was he? How could he be, when Marinette sat before him, pink, pink all over, in her clothes and her cheeks and fingers that were laced in his own? ‘I’m stupid.’ He realised, squeezing her hands as her laughter faded to hiccupping giggles.

‘I really got you.’ She said.

‘You did.’ Adrien smiled, knowing that she had, in more ways then one. ‘You got me.’

They shared their slice of cake in between chatter of tween memories, favourite colours, and movie theatre plans. One hand each separated to hold a fork, but Adrien kept his remaining hand entwined with hers, and she didn’t protest, just let him use his index finger to stroke her palm with a flushed face and a gentle smile. Once they’d sipped the very last of their drinks and scraped the last few crumbs of cake off the plate with icing-sticky fingers, Marinette took her sunglasses off her head and placed them delicately on the bridge of his nose, sliding the arms over his ears until they were settled.

‘Thought it might disguise you from any nosy paparazzi lurking around.’

‘How do I look?’ He took the glasses between two fingers and nudged them down, pretending to check her out, grinning when she shoved him lightly by the shoulder.

‘Come on, Mr Agreste, your curfew’s approaching.’

‘And what happens if I’m not home before midnight?’

‘I’ll have to scour the land in search of a foot that fits into the Gucci loafer you left me with.’

‘They’re _Agreste_!’ Adrien mock-gasped as they exited through the front door, huddling under the arch of the café as Marinette got out her umbrella to shield them from the oncoming rain. ‘I would never betray my family brand!’

‘Funny, because I think I saw the shirt you’re wearing in our local charity shop,’ she teased, lifting the umbrella so he could join her underneath. Adrien huffed as they danced around forming puddles, raindrops bouncing off the cobbles onto their ankles and toes.

‘I don’t like contributing to sweatshop labour.’

‘Pretty hard to do when your father owns a multi-million-euro fashion company.’

‘Not for long! When I inherit the brand, the first thing I’m gonna do is make sure all our clothes are sourced and made in socially and environmentally sustainable ways.’

‘Sounds like a plan,’ Marinette said, steering them down a quiet street when someone took a double-take at Adrien. ‘You really can’t go anywhere without recognition, can you?’

‘Sorry,’ Adrien said, fiddling with her sunglasses sheepishly, ‘believe me when I say I wish I could.’

‘I know,’ Marinette smiled, swinging their hands between them, ‘I find it sort of fun. Like I’m your bodyguard and I have to escort you safely out of public eye – it feels like a mission out of Assassin’s Creed.’

‘If you say so,’ he chuckled, pulling them to a stop as they reached a busy road, ‘I’m gonna walk you back to the bakery.’

‘It’s raining, Adrien, you don’t have to.’

‘I want to.’

The clouds rolled above them in a thick, grey mass, spilling growing drops of rain that clattered to the ground around them. The hem of Marinette’s skirt had grown dark from the damp and Adrien ushered her to her doorstep, intent on getting her inside and warm.

‘Say hi to your parents for me,’ he grinned, glancing up as the sky flashed behind the clouds, followed shortly by the low rumble of thunder. She gave him a concerned look, switching her gaze between the swirling clouds and her slowly soaking date. ‘Hey – don’t worry about me. My house isn’t far.’

As he released her hand from his, her fingers lingered reluctantly on his wrist. Eventually, she drew her arm back to her chest, still clutching the umbrella above them. Adrien beamed at her.

‘Thank you for today, Marinette. It was great.’ He pressed his lips together, hands in his pockets, swung back and forth from his toes to the balls of his feet. ‘I’d like to do it again, if that’s-’

‘Yes,’ she said, immediately, ‘y-yes, I’d like to. Next week?’

‘Next week,’ he echoed.

‘Cool.’ They both said. Lightning flashed again. Then thunder.

Adrien grimaced at the weather, as if each clap of thunder was a grumble to hurry up and head home, already. You’re making this awkward, the clouds seemed to say in flashes of electric yellow. ‘I’d better head back before my fairy godmother’s spell breaks,’ he took off her sunglasses and pressed them into her empty hand, then took a step back, out from underneath the umbrella, ‘I’ll see you at school, Marinette.’

‘Adrien, wait.’

He’d just turned to head home, a step or so away, raindrops on his hair and eyelashes and shoulders. He looked back in her direction: her hair was in springs of wet curls, skin streamed with little rivers of rainwater, dusty pink clothes now wine-coloured, flattened with moisture to her sides and stomach. One arm was at her side, gripping the Audrey Hepburn sunglasses; the other was outstretched, holding out the umbrella, offering it to him. Adrien looked at it, then at her, awestruck. Her eyes were the same as they were years ago, large and shining and blue, meeting his surprise with the steadiness he’d once given her. Dazed, he reached out – as she had, once – and collected the umbrella from her, hands making brief contact. He held the umbrella above his head almost uncertainly, like he’d never used one before, and looked back at Marinette for guidance. She was smiling at him, eyelids crinkled.

Adrien felt thirteen again.

‘Be my second,’ the words tumbled out of his mouth before he could rearrange them in a prettier way, the request frantic and borderline aggressive.

She blinked at him. He cleared his throat.

‘Be my second?’ He repeated, a question this time, so she was open to choose her answer. The ambiguity of what he’d said seemed to confuse her at first, until their earlier game of guessing came barrelling back. She searched his eyes – for what? Doubt? Affirmation? She stepped back into the shared space of the umbrella, thunder ricocheting across the street. Then, she cupped his chin with her free hand, searched his eyes once more, and pressed her lips to his until there was lightning, lighting in the sky and in their ears and flashing behind eyes easing shut. And she was lightning, in her fingers on his cheek and on her lips, and on the bare skin of her back where he settled his free hand, struggling to keep the umbrella upright as she struggled not to drop her sunglasses. Rain and wind swept against them. Marinette smelled like coffee and vanilla and tasted like cake and cream.

When she pulled back, still holding him by the face, Adrien battled over what to say to her. This had only happened to him thrice: once when he was under Dark Cupid’s spell, once when Oblivio had wiped his memory, and once when Ladybug rejected him the final time.

But Marinette wasn’t Ladybug. Marinette was human and familiar and right in front of him, looking at him like he meant something, and all he could feel was warmth, from her touch and from within himself. She drew back her hand. They looked at each other. Then, just as Adrien opened his mouth to speak, the umbrella snapped shut around him, trapping him in a snare of wet, waterproof fabric and metal spires. As he stood still, trying to comprehend his situation, he heard her laugh, light and twinkly like a bell, imperfectly beautiful, and he found himself laughing too as he wrenched himself out of the umbrella’s cage.

Marinette’s laughter seeped into a cosy smile. ‘See you later,’ she whispered, stepping back to her doorstep. Adrien waved dozily as she slipped into the bakery, her figure passing the window and ascending the stairs where she disappeared from his sight. Adrien’s brain told him to move, to head home, before his father started wondering where he was. Instead, he punched the air and whooped beneath a growl of thunder, hopping in puddles and dancing on the cobblestone road, grinning, wet and warm and dizzy.

It was amidst his celebration when he looked up to the bakery window and saw Marinette’s mother watching him from the first floor. Adrien halted in his tracks, nearly stumbling face-first into a puddle, and gaped at her. Sabine smiled brilliantly at him, hand on her chest, thoroughly enjoying the sweet event that unfolded before her. She waved at him and gave him a thumbs-up. He returned with an awkward wave and laughed bashfully before darting away, wondering with embarrassment whether she’d seen the whole thing.

Clutching the umbrella above his head, Adrien thanked the rain for Marinette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... hehe  
> sorry this update was late <3


	7. 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Actual superhero stuff.

‘Tell me everything!’ Alya yelled against puffs of short breath, each footstep in time with her friend’s as they jogged along the canal. ‘Every – single – detail!’

Grinning, Marinette wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead and checked her watch, deciphering how long they’d been running together. ‘You’re overreacting, Alya. It was a normal date. Nothing out of a romance film or anything.’

‘This is Adrien Agreste we’re talking about!’

Their daily run had become an excuse for the friends to not only improve their fitness, but to relentlessly gossip for the hour or so they were together. Usually, they giggled over the playful feud between Kim and Alix or Chloe’s most recent tantrum, clucking to each other about the latest school ongoings between swigs of water or massaging out stomach cramps. This time, however, there was only one topic up for discussion, at least in Alya’s eyes: Marinette and Adrien’s date.

They stopped beneath a bridge to stretch in the shade, and Marinette pretended to ignore the exuberance of pure delight practically seeping out of her friend’s aura, an energy that reached out like a pair of hands to jab her for answers and pinch her cheeks until she was blushing. As she attempted to remain calm and collected, her taller friend unscrewed the cap of her water bottle, took a large swig, then continued. ‘Dreamboat boy! You literally went on a date with a model who’ll be old enough for underwear shoots in a matter of months!’

Severely embarrassed, Marinette shot her a look. ‘Thanks for the mental image, Alya.’

‘You’re very welcome.’ She sung in response, releasing her thick hair from the scrunchie atop her head so she could readjust her ponytail. ‘How are you not freaking out about this? The Marinette I know would be bright pink and rolling on the floor in a mess of emotion right now!’

Marinette huffed, reaching up on her tiptoes to stretch her arms high above her head. ‘I’m not like that anymore.’

Fistful of chestnut hair in one hand, Alya paused halfway through her restyling session to give her a judgemental expression.

Marinette caved.

‘I screamed in the shower for twenty minutes this morning to let out my emotions, so I could act all cool about it once you started asking questions.’

‘That sounds a lot more likely.’ Her best friend smirked. ‘Details. Immediately.’

Releasing a melodramatic sigh, though loving every second of leaving Alya hanging, Marinette rolled her eyes. ‘What do you want to know?’

‘Did he kiss you?’

A tiny smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. ‘I had a feeling you’d ask that.’  Her best friend leaned in expectantly, ready for an answer. Marinette simply raised her eyebrows and shrugged at her, relishing in the distress that contorted in Alya’s expression.

‘That’s not fair!’ Alya whined, throwing her bottle to the ground in a tantrum more fitting for her younger sisters. ‘I tell you everything that happens with me and Nino!’

‘You tell me _too much_ about what goes on with you and Nino.’ Marinette laughed. ‘It’s really not that big of a deal.’

‘You’re messing with me.’ Alya pouted, folding her arms. ‘I bet it was magical – I bet you had the most wonderful date with Adrien that surpassed even your twelve-year-old fantasies. You probably sat and talked for hours about nothing in particular, he was an absolute gentleman and walked you home, and you passionately kissed in the rain!’

Marinette met her friend’s eye contact steadily. Then, a wide smile slowly formed on her face, and Alya gasped, bolting over to grab her by the shoulders. ‘ _You did not!’_

Deciding to throw her friend a bone, Marinette obliged. ‘We may, or may not, have kissed in the rain.’

‘Oh my God, Mari, our workout is officially over!’ She grabbed the dark-haired girl by the wrist and pulled her down until they collapsed on the ground beneath the bridge; Marinette, anchored by Alya’s grip, was forced to shuffle into a cross-legged position to spill the beans on her date of all dates. ‘You’re gonna tell me exactly how, when, and why it went down! Holy shit, girl, you kissed Adrien Agreste!’

 

* * *

 

 

‘You did _what?!_ ’

‘Sure, no reason to be happy for me or anything.’ Adrien cocked an eyebrow at Nino’s face, pixelated and flabbergasted on the screen of his phone. ‘You’re asking as if I did something wrong.’

‘You did, dude! You broke guy code!’

‘Oh, come on,’ wheeling around his bedroom on a desk chair, Adrien skidded to a halt before his piano and settled the phone against the keys, laughing as he did so, ‘you’re upset with me for breaking dating rules that don’t even exist? Marinette didn’t seem to mind kissing on our first date.’

His mind wondered back to their night together on Marinette’s balcony, when he was Chat Noir, after Ladybug failed to show up to the date he’d prepared. If that was technically a date, too, he supposed he wasn’t really breaking “guy code” after all.

‘The guy code is very real and the ultimate progression method! It guarantees success in every development stage of the relationship!’

‘Careful, Nino, you’re starting to sound like Max.’

‘It was Max that introduced me to guy code! He wrote a paper on that shit – with statistical facts!’

‘What was it again – nothing on the first date, kissing on the second, and sexual stuff on the third?’

‘Pretty much, yes.’

‘Then it’s decided. Marinette and I kissed on our first date, so we’ll get married on our second, and remain celibate for every following date to come.’ Adrien winked at him. ‘Just to piss you off.’

‘You’re impossible!’ Nino groaned, jabbing the lens of his webcam as if he could poke his best friend through the screen. ‘You need a strategy!’

‘Marinette’s not a videogame.’

‘Women are complicated creatures!’

‘Do you realise how blatantly sexist you sound?’

‘I’m merely generalising for dramatic effect.’ Nino huffed, pressed his fingers together, and exhaled deeply. ‘I’m just saying, your dating strategy is terrible. Ignore Marinette’s obvious signs of affection so you can pursue another girl, then finally reciprocate her feelings five years later when she could have easily moved on from you?’

‘Yeah, I guess that’s not the greatest – wait, what did you say?’

Nino blinked at him. Horror passed over his face: it lasted maybe half a second, the sudden widening of his eyes and drop of his jaw were gone so quickly that Adrien might have missed it if he’d blinked. An intense calmness replaced it, too stoic to be unsuspicious, and his best friend was having none of it.

‘Say about what?’ Nino asked, weakly.

‘About Marinette.’ He pushed, confusion and shock clawing at his mind and tightening in his chest. He wasn’t sure whether Nino’s camcorder was unstable or if his friend was actually shaking in fear.

‘… that she’s a complicated creature?’

‘Marinette’s liked me for _five years?_ ’ Adrien screeched, kicking off the floor in distress so he went flying round the room atop his office chair, mind (and vision) whirling. ‘She’s – you mean – it’s true? She’s _– five years_?!’

‘I mean, five was just an estimate-’

‘ _And you didn’t say anything to me?!’_ The blonde boy rolled back towards the screen of his phone, eyes narrowed at his friend. He thought, rather naively, that if he shifted the blame onto Nino for not telling him he’d feel better about not realising this sooner. His best friend’s retort was immediate and accusing.

‘I didn’t think I needed to!’ Nino exclaimed, clutching his head in frustration. ‘She was so obvious, you oblivious fuck!’

‘No, she wasn’t!’

‘Yes, she was!’ Nino pressed, raking his hands over his face as if he were ready to claw his own eyes out. ‘Stuttering whenever she talked to you, running away when you tried approaching her, panicking if you’d so much as look in her direction-’

‘I just thought she was scared of me!’ Adrien wheezed, sinking down in his office hair and sliding to the floor. ‘My life is a lie. A giant, fat lie.’ He moaned, off-camera. Nino’s sigh was crackly from his phone speaker.

‘Of course she was scared of you. Crushing on someone makes them terrifying.’

Adrien considered this. Was Ladybug terrifying because he’d had a schoolboy crush on her since he was twelve?

No, he decided. Ladybug was just terrifying in general.

‘I still don’t see it.’ He moped. ‘There’s no way Marinette liked me for that long.’

‘The good luck charm she gave you?’

‘A friendly gesture!’

‘When she kissed you on the cheek?’

‘A friendly gesture, also!’

‘The way she looked at you when you danced together at Chloe’s party?’

‘I’ve seen her look at puppies the same way.’

‘That’s not coincidental! Marinette loves animals!’

‘Oh my God, you’re right.’ Adrien leapt up, back in the camera’s field of view. ‘How could I have been so blind?!’

‘Okay, now you’re just being dramatic.’ Nino sighed. ‘Don’t distress, bro, this is good news! You know for sure that Marinette likes you back!’

‘Because kissing me during a thunderstorm yesterday wasn’t enough proof.’ He muttered, and Nino smacked his hand against his forehead.

‘Damn it, Adrien, what matters is that you’re dating her now. You’re totally worth the wait!’

‘As much as I appreciate the compliment, all I can think about is the impending guilt that is slowly killing me.’ He inhaled sharply. ‘I must apologise to Marinette!’

‘Woah, woah, woah,’ Nino wheezed, face growing large and distorted on the screen of his phone as he neared the lense, ‘don’t you dare bring this up with Marinette! Alya will kill me if she finds out I spilled!’

‘But I’ve left her hanging for so long-’

‘Not a word!’

‘But-’

‘Promise me!’

‘… Fine.’

‘Thank you.’ Nino grimaced. ‘I’ve managed to stay in her good books for a while, there’s no way I’m slipping up now.’

‘Why, because she rewards your good behaviour with frequent sex?’

Nino glared at him. Adrien shrugged in response.

‘Just saying.’

‘Thank you for your contribution, this conversation is officially over.’

‘If you say so.’

Huffily, Nino scuffled with his phone before disappearing in a flash of black on Adrien’s screen, who was left to chuckle at his friend’s defensiveness. Slumping back into his office chair, he rolled across the room to his bed and launched himself into it, landing face-first on his set of Ladybug-printed sheets. He lifted his chin to squint at the red and black polka-dots, eyes narrowed. It seemed strange, and almost unfaithful, to have such a Ladybug-themed bedroom now that Marinette was in the picture.

He made a mental note to buy new bedsheets. And posters. And pyjamas.

Propping himself up by the elbows, Adrien rolled onto his back, considering the new information Nino had provided as he nestled into the pillows. Had Marinette really felt for him for so long? The more he thought about it, the more possible it became in his mind, and Adrien groaned at his lack of social awareness. Her nervousness, her stuttering, the little sweet things she did for him – of course she liked him. It made so much sense.

When Adrien was twelve and just shy of starting public school, Nathalie had gently explained to him that life wasn’t like anime. In a normal pursuit of a relationship, people didn’t actually get theatrically shy, blush at every interaction, or grow increasingly clumsy around whoever they liked romantically.

With Marinette’s bashful interactions as evidence, he knew now that she was wrong.

 _Nathalie’s a liar,_ Adrien mentally grumbled, _I knew I should’ve just listened to what shoujo taught me._

 

* * *

 

 

‘That’s insane!’

‘It was pretty romantic,’ Marinette hummed, holding Alya’s knees in place as she started her first rep of situps.

‘Romantic? It’s the stuff that fucking miracles are made of!’ Her best friend exclaimed, the volume of her voice wavering each time she raised her torso. ‘What are the odds of kissing in the rain after you gave him your umbrella – considering you first developed feelings for him when he offered you his all those years ago!’

‘I guess it was kind of crazy.’ Marinette was blushing again, grinning bashfully as she checked her friend’s time on a stopwatch.

‘It’s fate. You two – you’re written in the stars.’

Marinette’s heart was soaring. She thought her feelings were too exaggerated; she’d cursed herself the night before for acting so giddy after her date came to a close. But Alya was reaffirming her excitement, encouraging it, even, agreeing that her and Adrien seemed to be made for each other.

‘You good to end it here?’ Alya puffed, collapsing on her back after an impressive amount of situps. ‘I think my abs might drop off if I keep going.’

‘No worries, Alya,’ she beamed at her, ‘thanks for letting me blab about my date.’

‘No, no, thank _you_ for blabbing!’ Alya laughed, hoisting herself to her feet with a tired ‘oof’. She dusted off the thighs of her workout leggings, checked her phone, and took another swig of water. ‘Want me to walk you back to the bakery?’

Just as Marinette was about to agree, she caught eye of Master Fu’s little house on the street corner, lights on, a little smoke emerging from the chimney. Remembering Chat’s new ability, and the potential return of Volpina, she decided it would be best to seek his advice.

‘Actually,’ she hummed, remembering Fu’s pseudonym, ‘I’m going to stop by Mr Chan’s. He’s pretty good with Chinese medicine, and Mum thought he could grab me something for my lack of sleep.’

‘That sounds like a plan, girl,’ Alya replied, seriously, ‘anything to ease those nightmares of yours.’

Nodding, Marinette patted her friend on the shoulder. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow?’

‘Bright and early! Someone’s got to make sure you’re up in time for class.’

With a shared laugh and a friendly hug, the two separated down opposite ends of the canal. Marinette picked up the pace as she ascended the stairs to the streets above, frustrated that she hadn’t gone to Master Fu sooner: this information was desperately important, but she’d been so caught up with hours of homework and moments with Adrien that she’d completely forgotten.

‘Damn my absent mind,’ she muttered to herself, knocking on the front door.

‘Enter!’ She heard him call from inside, so she pushed open the door and let herself in.

Master Wang Fu had a lot of energy for someone who’d recently turned one-hundred-and-ninety years old. He was whizzing around the room, picking up bottles and herb sprigs and powders, settling them before a pot of bubbling liquid that was slowly emitting sweet-smelling steam. ‘Marinette,’ he said, without needing to look up, ‘welcome. Excuse me for a moment – this potion requires rapid completion.’

‘Would you like some help?’

‘Thank you, but it would be best if I finish it alone. Please, make yourself comfortable.’

Settling onto a floor cushion, the teenager watched as Master Fu threw his collected ingredients into the pot, whispering to himself as he stirred the mixture until the steam turned pale pink. After a quick sniff, he smiled victoriously, then scooped the sakura-coloured potion into two small vials.

‘Your mother told me you’ve been suffering from nightmares.’ He said.

‘Oh – yes.’ Marinette replied sheepishly. ‘I’ve had them ever since I got the miraculous, but they’ve been growing worse as of late.’

‘Unfortunately, nightmares are a symptom of Hawkmoth’s growth in strength.’ When Marinette’s eyes widened in fear, he gave her a warm smile. ‘Do not fear, Ladybug. You will find soon enough that you have grown stronger, too.’

Slipping the vials into a small bag, he crossed the room to hand it to her. ‘Medicine. One for you, and one for Chat Noir. Mostly a herbal remedy, but I thought that a little magic was required in this special circumstance. One drop on the tongue every night should help ease your sleep.’

Gratefully, Marinette took the bag from his grasp and bowed her head to him. Her brain pinched her, reminding her of why she came. She cleared her throat. ‘Um – Master Fu?’

‘What troubles you?’

‘You said that I’ll grow stronger…’ She played with her fingers, building an explanation in her mind. ‘See, I think Chat already has.’

Fu’s eyes twinkled at her. ‘Really?’ He asked, though seemed to know exactly what she was talking about.

‘We were out patrolling,’ she elaborated, ‘there was some kind of mirage – a darkness that fell over Paris. Then, Chat… felt someone. An enemy coming near. He couldn’t see or hear them, but he swears he sensed them through the walls.’

‘Yes,’ Fu nodded, ‘you will find that now the two of you are maturing, your power increases. It is a development of faith and loyalty; your miraculous are ready to trust you with new abilities.’

‘Will he get more of them? Will I get them?’

‘It is only a matter of time.’

‘What will they be?’

‘I cannot say.’ He seated himself opposite her, old age slowing his movement. ‘They vary between each miraculous holder. Some remain common, such as the yoyo. Others differ depending on current circumstances.’

Frowning, Marinette glanced at her clutch, where Tikki was taking a moment to rest. She almost felt bitter: she’d been close to her kwami for years. How come Chat received a new power before her?

It seemed unfair.

‘Master Fu,’ she started, ‘why haven’t I received a new ability yet?’

The guardian hummed thoughtfully. ‘Has Chat Noir gone through a change, recently? Something that could have matured him?’

Pressing her lips together, Marinette delved into her memories to find an answer. Chat was vastly more reckless than her, much more childish: all he did was make puns and flirt obnoxiously and throw himself into the mouth of danger whenever she was even mildly threatened. Chat Noir was anything but mature; surely, he hadn’t changed so suddenly?

It was then that revelation hit her like a tonne of bricks. She rejected him the previous week, and for the first time, he’d listened. He finally realised that his feelings were not going to be reciprocated – and he respected it. He even found someone new.

He’d moved on.

‘I suppose he has,’ she breathed, shock running through her like electricity.

‘If you are so anxious for a new ability, you could have a discussion with Tikki. I know many things about the miraculous, but unfortunately, their decisions still remain a mystery to me. Perhaps she could provide a better answer.’

‘I will.’ Marinette replied, before looking around the room. She checked there were no faces peering through the windows, no shadows beneath the front door, before leaning closer to the man who’d advised her for nearly five years. ‘There’s something else. Something important.’

Nodding, Master Fu shuffled in his place. ‘I will provide whatever help I can.’

‘The figure that Chat sensed on that patrol,’ she gulped, ‘he’s certain it was Volpina.’

‘Hawkmoth’s mimic of the fox miraculous?’

‘The very same.’

‘This is troubling…’ Fu frowned, stroking the wisps of grey hair on his chin. ‘The last we saw of her was when Hawkmoth marched on Paris with his army of akuma. A return of Volpina would mean he’s planning something.’

‘You think he’s changing tactics?’

‘Potentially.’ Fu looked at her, a heavy seriousness in the way his eyes met hers. ‘You must beware.’

‘She goes to my school. Lila, I mean - Volpina’s civilian form. I’ll make sure to keep an eye on her.’ She offered a determined smile, refusing to show fear. The guardian pressed his lips into a thin line.

‘A good plan – but not enough, I fear.’ He stood, grunting at his aching joints, before making his way across the room to the old record player. After pressing a few buttons that Marinette remained unable to decipher, the miracle box revealed itself, and he collected from it two pieces of jewellery.

He returned to her: in his hands were the comb of the bee and the necklace of the fox. After laying them in her carefully outstretched palms, he glanced thoughtfully at the beaded bracelet on his wrist. Wayzz, seated on the horn of the record player, gave him a nod of support, and the elderly man slid it off his arm as the turtle kwami dissipated into the bead. Confidently, he placed it atop the miraculous already in her hands. She gaped at him.

‘Marinette,’ he started, slowly, ‘I gift you with these three miraculous. I am aware that you have successfully entrusted them with three civilians. I want you to return them.’ He paused. ‘Permanently.’

‘Permanently?’ Marinette breathed. ‘But Master Fu, the turtle miraculous is yours-’

‘Wayzz has served me for many long years, Ladybug, but I fear Hawkmoth knows that there a guardian lives among him in Paris. Wayzz will be safer with someone else.’

‘Master Fu-’

‘Go, give these to your friends. Guide them along their journey as superheroes. With their help, you will be ready for whatever terrible battle Hawkmoth is planning.’

Marinette stared down at the three miraculous, sparkling in her hands, shining at her with glimmers of light and magic. She bit her lip: a lot of responsibility was at her fingertips.

‘I won’t let you down.’ She said, sliding the miraculous carefully into her clutch. ‘I will deliver them immediately.’

‘You have my utmost faith, Ladybug.’ He smiled at her. ‘The back door is discreet. Do not delay.’

With a determined nod, she rushed into the hallway, searching for the back door which ended up opening into an enclosed garden, concealed by a high fence and climbing plants. ‘Perfect,’ she grinned, clasping open her purse to reveal her groggy kwami, rubbing her eyes and blinking up at her with large blue irises.

‘We’re heading off?’ She asked, shaking herself out of post-nap sleepiness.

‘Master Fu said we should get the help of a few friends.’ She smiled as Tikki readied herself for transformation. ‘Transform me!’

In a burst of twinkling pink light, Marinette was flooded with the familiar feeling of intense power. Her red and black spotted suit spread over her sports attire in a glitter of magic, her identity now concealed beneath the weight of her mask as she grasped for her yoyo. With a deep breath and a nod to herself, she threw her yoyo atop a building and launched into the air, the three miraculous hidden in the compartment within.

She left them in three locations: the comb was placed on the bedside table of Chloe Bourgeois, who was singing in the ensuite; the necklace was slipped through an open window to Alya’s room and onto her desk, where Alya had her back turned to take a phonecall; the bracelet was propped up next to one of Nino’s potted plants on the windowsill, which he noticed after catching a blur of red and black spots pass by.

Each miraculous were found by their hosts along with a note:

_Notre Dame. One hour. Be there._

  * _LB_



Hoping that her message was straightforward, and that her friends would oblige, she swung up to the rooftops of Paris, deciding that a route away from the streets would keep her hidden from the public eye. Once she reached the famous cathedral, she called Chat Noir with the device inside her yoyo; when he answered, the screen was blank, normally a sign that he was still in his civilian form.

‘What’s up, bug? Have I managed to completely ignore an akuma attack?’

‘No akuma,’ she confirmed, soaring through the rose window and landing feet-first on the wooden floor inside, ‘but it’s important. You’ve met Master Fu, right?’

‘The old guardian? Yeah, he came to my house years ago and called himself “Mr Chan”. You guys had a talk without me, as usual?’

‘Don’t be bitter, this is serious!’ She frowned when Chat laughed on the other line.

‘Kidding, buginette. What did you find out?’

‘It’ll be safer if you come meet me at the Notre Dame. As soon as possible, if you can – there’s a lot to talk about.’

‘You got it.’

After hanging up, Ladybug seated herself on the creaky wooden floor, readying herself for the arrival of her allies.

Queen Bee arrived first, punctual as usual, hopping through the window with an elegant flip and a perfect landing. Despite the issues Marinette had with her, there was one thing about Chloe she deeply respected: her dedication to being a superhero.

‘Ladybug,’ she greeted with a flash of pearly white teeth, ‘you wanted to see me?’

‘Among the others. I have some pretty big news.’

‘I see,’ Queen Bee pouted, seeming disappointed that the other heroes would be present. ‘Well, I’m sure I can be a great help, whatever it is.’

‘I’m sure you can.’ Ladybug smiled kindly as the bee-themed superhero sat opposite her with a proud grin.

Soon after entered Carapace and Rena Rouge, who had likely decided to make the journey together. Queen Bee rolled her eyes as they sat next to each other, practically tied at the hip.

‘Is it even possible for one of you to do something without the other?’

‘You’re just upset that you’re always the third wheel.’ Rena Rouge stuck out her tongue at her, then turned to Ladybug. ‘You wanted to talk to us?’

Ladybug nodded, supressing the warmth inside her at the arrival of her best friend. ‘We’ll wait until Chat arrives. He always throws a strop when he’s not involved.’

‘Poor, poor kitty.’ Rena grinned.

‘Yes, poor me.’ Chat mused, his voice appearing out of nowhere. The four shot glances in the direction of the rose window, where he was leaning lazily against the frame, swinging his leather-like tail in one hand. ‘The gang’s all here?’

‘At the request of Master Fu,’ Ladybug replied, exasperated by his sneaky entrance, ‘come inside before you catch the eyes of all those tourists below.’

‘Can’t help that I’m so attractive.’ He winked, leaping down from the window. He gave the other superheroes a wave (except Carapace, who he blasted with finger guns) and sat down beside his partner of five years. ‘The knights are at your command, my lady. I think we should invest in a round table.’

‘Good plan, dude.’ Carapace nodded, and the two high-fived.

‘If you two could stop joking around, Ladybug had something _serious_ to talk about.’ Queen Bee scolded, ever the teacher’s pet (Superhero’s pet? Ladybug’s pet? Pet bee?)

‘That’s right.’ Ladybug nodded, and the group turned to her to listen. ‘As you know, Chat and I have been superheroes for around five years, now. In this time, we’ve grown strong – but Hawkmoth is growing stronger.’

‘We can take him.’ Carapace grinned. ‘Whenever you need us, just bring over our miraculous.’

‘That’s what we need to discuss.’ Ladybug looked over their faces, knowing that each of them were a friend to her beneath their masks. She trusted them with her life, she knew she could; but could they trust her? They had no idea who she was without her spots on. Would they be able to accept such a huge responsibility?

‘Are you okay, Ladybug?’ Rena Rouge asked, tone laced with Alya Cesaire, and all at once Ladybug felt comforted.

‘This is a lot to ask of you.’ Ladybug bit her lip. ‘I understand that, and I want you to consider my proposal carefully. It’s just… it’s been pointed out to me that Chat and I need all the help we can get. It’s exhausting for us, constantly saving Paris, but also having to deal with schoolwork and other civilian troubles.’

‘Seconded.’ Chat nodded.

‘One day, all of our work could take its toll on us. And Hawkmoth has years more experience, so I’m worried we’ll never beat him alone.’

‘You have us, Ladybug.’ Queen Bee pointed out.

‘I know.’ Marinette released a long breath. ‘And I’d like to have you permanently.’

A silence filled the room. They blinked at her, unsure of her conclusion, before eyes went wide and jaws dropped around the circle.

‘You mean-’ Carapace started.

‘We’re stronger as a five.’ Ladybug persuaded. ‘Defeating Hawkmoth will be much easier as a team. You guys will get to keep your miraculous, permanently. Chat and I can help train you along the way; we can also alternate between patrols, keep in contact over akuma sightings – our job will be a lot more successful if you’re willing to accept the responsibility.’

‘I’m in,’ Queen Bee said, immediately, ‘being a superhero is the most important thing in my life. I would love to keep Pollen permanently.’

Ladybug beamed at her. Then, she turned her gaze to Carapace and Rena Rouge, chewing on her lip uncertainly. ‘I understand that this is a lot to ask, especially with schoolwork and-’

‘I will never, ever, put my life as a civilian over saving my friends and family from Hawkmoth.’ Rena pressed, eyes locking into hers. ‘You’ve been my role model since I was twelve, Ladybug. You can count on my support.’

Affection burst inside of her, and it took all of Marinette’s strength to not tackle her unknowing best friend into a hug. She looked at Carapace, who shrugged with a small smile.

‘I go where she goes.’ He said simply, wrapping an arm around his girlfriend.

‘Gross.’ Queen Bee muttered.

Finally, Ladybug turned to Chat, her partner-in-crime and one of her closest friends. She searched his green eyes for an answer he wasn’t speaking. All she could find was warmth: warmth and complete trust.

‘I’ll always be by your side, my lady.’ He said softly, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder. Feeling very emotional, even a little choked up, Ladybug cleared her throat and blinked away forming tears.

‘I trust you, all of you,’ she started, ‘but I need to give you a disclaimer.’

She shuffled in place. Then, she gave them the most determined and stern stare, developed from years of scaring away akuma. Her friends visibly faltered.

‘You will not, under any circumstances, abuse the power the miraculous give you. You will not use them for evil, or even attempt to give them to Hawkmoth – the miraculous may make you strong, but Chat and I have been playing this game for years. Betray us, and we will hunt you down and tear your miraculous from you.’

Chat nodded in agreement, matching her glare with an expression of similar intimidation, and the three superheroes spoke hurried consolations of ‘never!’ and ‘we promise!’, shrivelling under the influence of the two most powerful miraculous.

‘Good. Now that’s straight,’ she turned to Chat, who blinked at her expectantly, ‘I have news on this new ability of yours.’

‘New ability?’ Queen Bee gaped.

‘Yes – turns out they are completely normal, and expected. You three may even gain your own, once you’re strong enough.’

‘Sick.’ Carapace whispered.

‘It’s not completely good news, though. A rise in our strength also means a rise in Hawkmoth’s. We should be wary, especially since Volpina’s back in the picture.’

Queen Bee scoffed. ‘She’s no match for us – she’s not even a real miraculous holder.’

‘Don’t underestimate her, or the power that akumatisation gives her.’ Chat warned. ‘She’s a tricky one, not to mention manipulative.’

‘She’s known in her civilian form as Lila Rossi. If you know her,’ she looked at the three knowingly, completely aware that they did, ‘keep an eye out. If she’s acting suspicious, follow her if you have to.’

‘Got it.’ They affirmed.

With the serious topic now over, Ladybug sighed through her nose, easing the weight in her chest out along with it. ‘We should stay in contact, somehow. Out of costume, I mean, to help arrange patrols or if one of us spots an akuma.’

Queen Bee let out a squeal of excitement. ‘We should have a group chat!’

‘A group chat?’ Rena frowned. ‘How? We’d have to use our real numbers or social media accounts. That would risk our identity.’

‘Not if we make fake ones.’ The blonde girl smirked. ‘How about we all make an unsuspicious Instagram account with a code name. We won’t need to post any photos or anything, we’d just need to create a group chat with all of us included.’

‘Any suggestions?’ Carapace asked.

Tapping her chin with a gloved finger, Chloe squinted at the group in thought. ‘What about our transformation ques? Buzz, Claws, Spots, Shell, and Pounce! They’re obvious enough for us but totally unsuspicious without context.’

‘You’re a genius, Queen Bee.’ Ladybug grinned at her, causing her to blush and flip the spring of her ponytail confidently.

‘I know.’

‘We should have password, too, to make sure it’s definitely the five of us.’ Carapace added. ‘I’ll ask you guys your favourite colour, and we all reply with our whichever corresponds with our miraculous.’

‘Good idea, Carapace.’ Rena placed her hand atop his supportively. With a crooked smile, Chat folded his arms behind his head.

‘Then it’s settled. The miraculous gang are getting a group chat.’

‘Could we have a better name than the “miraculous gang?”’ Rena frowned.

‘Miraculous squad? Miraculous fam? Knights of the round table?’

‘A name for us is unimportant.’ Ladybug sighed, attempting to sway the conversation away from something so childish. ‘Let’s head back, discreetly. We don’t need Hawkmoth knowing we’re up to something.’

With a flashy smirk, Queen Bee got on her feet. ‘See you bitches on the group chat.’

‘We heading off?’ Carapace asked, looking at Rena for confirmation with Nino’s affection in his eyes. She nodded, and the two followed Queen Bee out of the rose window and into the slowly lowering sunset across the roofs of Paris.

As Chat extended his baton, readying to leave, Ladybug stopped him. She opened the compartment of her yoyo where the vial of pale pink liquid bubbled inside. Collecting it between two fingers, she passed it to him.

‘One drop before you go to bed.’ She smiled. ‘For your nightmares.’

‘Thanks, buginette.’ He grinned at her, eyes bright with affection and familiarity; Ladybug noticed this time, however, that they seemed to lack the flash of adoration that was once there.

 _This is a good thing,_ she reminded herself, as she watched him leap out the window.

When Marinette returned home through the trap door she’d left propped open, she went about creating a fake Instagram. Naming herself “Spots”, with a ladybug as her profile picture, she was just about to search the code names of her friends when a new notification popped up. Chloe was faster than her, she noted, as she’d already found all the fellow superheroes and added them to a new group chat.

As he’d said, Carapace was the first to message.

 

**Shell**

hey! what are your fave colours? :)

**Buzz**

yellow, of course~!

**Pounce**

gotta be orange

**Claws**

Black, like my soul :P

 

Smiling, Marinette responded.

 

**Spots**

Red.

**Shell**

cool! mine’s green :^D

 

Aware that she was speaking to the correct people, Marinette took a moment to praise herself for the day she’d had. A successful workout and gossip with her best friend; a plethora of advice from the miraculous guardian; a meeting with her allies that put them a step ahead of Hawkmoth.

Things were going well, she decided, as her phone pinged with a message. Expecting it to be the new group chat, her heart rate quickened when Adrien’s name lit up the screen, adorned with a sappy heart emoji beside it. Now pink, and fingers trembling, she read his message.

 

**Adrien**

Goodnight, princess :)

 

Heat surged through her, and her blush darkened. He was so sweet, so thoughtful, to send her a goodnight message and to call her –

Wait.

‘Princess?’ She mouthed, rereading the text in disbelief. She scrolled up to the message he’d sent a few nights ago, where the nickname cropped up again.

Princess.

 _‘Bonne nuit, princess,’_ Chat’s voice echoed in her mind.

Marinette almost dropped her phone. Despite being completely alone, she laughed nervously, believing it might comfort her, staring at Adrien’s message with shaking hands and a lump in her throat. It was just coincidence, it had to be: Chat and Adrien were complete opposite sides of the same coin.

_The same coin._

‘It’s not him!’ She rasped, shaking her head in denial. ‘Calm down, Marinette, it’s just a silly coincidence! Adrien’s just being sweet – he has no idea Chat calls you princess as well.’

Another ping from her phone; from the group chat, this time. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she opened it.

 

**_Claws has changed the name of the group to ‘Nights of the Round Table’_ **

****

**Pounce**

goddammit, chat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait on this chapter! I've been messing around with it for a little while now and tbh, I'm still not 100% happy with it - but it's the best I can do for now. Maybe I'll come back and edit it in the future.
> 
> Thank you all, so, so much for the support on the previous chapter. You guys were fucking lovely - I'm grateful for each and every one of you.
> 
> Also, thank you all (except my sister pLEASE STOP LMAO) for not constantly yelling at me to update <3


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